Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2017
Abstract
On April 6, 2017, the United States launched fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles against an air base in Syria, after evidence surfaced that Bashar Al-Assad’s regime had again used chemical weapons against its people. President Trump announced that the strikes were intended “to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” But as of this Symposium’s publication, the United States has not articulated a formal legal justification for the strikes. Instead, it reportedly circulated a document that listed several case-specific considerations that, in its view, justified the use of force. Yet the global reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Many states openly supported the U.S. strikes; very few condemned them.
Recommended Citation
Hakimi, Monica. "Introduction to Symposium on Unauthorized Military Interventions for the Public Good." AJIL Unbound 111 (2017): 284-6.