Contents: Foreword PART I General features and historic development of the law of and against war - jus contra bellum 1. General features 2. The historic development of limitations on recourse to force: Main periods in which the jus ad bellum has come under pressure 3. Overview: state of the law in 1939 PART II Powers of the organised collectivity (particularly the UN Security Council) 4. Scheme and structure of the UN Charter 5. Chapter VII of the Charter: coercive powers of the Security Council 6. Executing (by force?) a judgment of the International Court of Justice 7. The exercise of parallel competences by the Security Council and the International Court of Justice 8. The binding character of Security Council decisions under Chapter VII or under Article 94 § 2 of the Charter ; Article 50 of the Charter 9. Classic and robust peacekeeping operations 10. Chapter VII of the Charter and neutrality PART III The prohibition against the use of force and exceptions for individual States 11. The prohibition against the use of force: Article 2 § 4 of the Charter 12. Exceptions to the prohibition against the use of force 13. Peaceful change 14. General conclusions Bibliography Index

'In our war-torn world, this book renews our understanding of the importance of peace as a legal and moral norm. It also provides the most comprehensive discussion of how and why the international law against war works to achieve peace. No scholar, student, government official or concerned person should fail to consult it.' --Mary Ellen O'Connell, University of Notre Dame, US