New Threats, New Rules? The Future of Preventive War

Open to the Public

This presentation will examine the concept of preventive war, its evolution as a tool of statecraft since the end of Cold War, and possible means of averting a coming age of uncontrolled preventive war.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2009 Time: 12:15pm - 02:00pm Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

An Ethiopian soldier is seen in Kismayu, Somalia, Jan 2, 2006. Eight months after the UN-backed government supported by troops from Ethiopia rolled into Mogadishu promising peace, divisions over clan, politics, and power were stronger than ever.

About

Are international norms about the recourse to war changing? Has the world entered a new era in which preventive war—striking at potential threats rather than defending against imminent danger—is not only acceptable but increasingly preferred by policymakers in an environment rife with qualitatively new threats to the state and national security? This presentation will examine the concept of preventive war, its evolution as a tool of statecraft since the end of Cold War, and possible means of averting a coming age of uncontrolled preventive war.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

This seminar is co-sponsored by the Project on Managing the Atom.