The use of force in international law

This free course, The use of force in international law, is designed to provide you with an introduction to one of the contentious topics in public international law: the use of force. In this course, you will explore international rules governing the use of force, including an introduction to the laws of war (International Humanitarian Law). Finally, you will also consider the dilemma of humanitarian intervention, which you can later apply in the game Saving Setrus.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 History of the law on the use of force
• 1 History of the law on the use of force
• 1.1 The post-1945 legal framework
• 1.2 The use of force authorised by the UN Security Council
• 1.3 The use of force in self-defence
• 1.3.1 Criteria for self-defence
• 1.4 Self-defence against non-state actors
• 2 The law of armed conflict
• 2 The law of armed conflict
• 2.1 Overview of international humanitarian law
• Historical development of IHL
• The Law of The Hague and the Law of Geneva
• Types of armed conflict
• 2.2 The main principles of IHL
• 2.3 Protection of civilians
• Special protection under IHL
• 3 Humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect
• 3 Humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect
• 3.1 What is humanitarian intervention?
• 3.2 The dilemma of intervention
• 3.3 Beyond humanitarian intervention: some of the critical points
• 3.4 Responsibility to protect
• Conclusion
• References
• Further reading
• Acknowledgements