The Threat of Force in International Law

Senior research fellow at the World Trade Institute and visiting lecturer in international and constitutional law at the University of Basel.

• 1. Birth and infancy of a Charter rule: the open framework; 2. The menu of choice: a guide to interpretation; 3. Precedents of the International Court; 4. Deciphering post-Charter practice: means and limits; 5. Open threats to extract concessions; 6. Demonstrations of force; 7. Countervailing threats or threats in self-defence; 8. Findings and conclusions; 9. Epilogue: the law in operation.

'Nikolas Stürchler deserves not only the credit for having submitted the first comprehensive analysis on 'Art. 2 (4)'s blind spot', but also for having approached this subject matter in a well-balanced, historically informed and excellently written manner. The overall objective of his treatise is to both explore the legal meaning of the no-threat principle and to draw conclusions on how it operates in practice and it shall be stated right at the outset that Stürchler succeeds in achieving this aim. … Stürchler's book is an excellent piece of academic work which deserves wide readership, not only with a view to the detailed and standard-setting examination of State practice contained therein.' Alexander Proelf