Thesis
French
ID: <
10670/1.1ta3zy>
Abstract
Under the reign of classical international law, preventive war was, in international relations, a natural phenomenon. States used to declare war freely to protect themselves against threats of attack that were either imminent or remote. Preventive war was waged in an offensive or defensive way. The change from classical international law to modern international law stems from a movement of gradual reduction of recourse to war, then to force with the United Nations Charter. This period of outlawry of war has triggered a shift from preventive war to preventive recourse to force. Under the reign of positive international law, particularly after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, preventive war tries to come back under the form of a political doctrine that became a security strategy. Preventive war, under this modern guise, invests itself with new objectives. In the new context of post Cold war international relations, preventive recourse to force, of preventive dimension or nature, may be made in a centralized way with the system of collective security and may be made pre-emptively with the right of self defence. The question regarding the creation of new exceptions to the principle of non-recourse to force also comes up. The attempted resurgence of that type of war is driving international law, questioned by those new threats to peace (terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, massive violations of human rights, the overthrow of democratic regimes) to evolve. However, the normative revolution claimed by the hyperpower will not have occurred.