A new book written by Vasja Badalič was published by Palgrave MacMillan. The book, titled Preventive Warfare: Hegemony, Power, and the Reconceptualization of War, provides a critical analysis of the reconceptualization of preventive warfare in the 21st century. It discusses how the US redefined key concepts to set up a new legal framework for preventive warfare and, consequently, to introduce unlawful practices into preventive military operations. The new conceptualization of preventive warfare enabled the US to ignore some of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and thus use armed force within a lax legal framework and with greater impunity.
The book starts by examining how preventive measures aimed at eliminating future vague threats became a key part of counterterrorism in both law enforcement and military operations in the post-9/11 era. The paradigmatic shift to preventive actions included the reinvention of preventive methods of combat. Focusing on three examples of preventive warfare, the book examines the reconceptualization of preventive national self-defense, preventive on-the-spot reactions in combat operations, and preventive “security” detention. The new legal framework and practices used in preventive warfare blurred the line between civilians and legitimate military targets in ways that increased the risks of causing harm to civilians. Finally, the book explores how the new rules on preventive warfare fit within hegemonic international law. It contends that the shift to preventive warfare enabled the US to resort to indiscriminate and disproportionate violence to maintain its hegemonic position in the international system.
More information is available on the publisher’s website.
