A Farewell to Wars

'Is the plague of war slowly becoming a thing of the past, despite its occasional outbreaks? Stepping back from the here and now, this colossal work shines a light on the big picture of all the armed conflicts that have taken place, but also the conflicts that have been settled without bloodshed, since the Second World War. A huge task, fulfilled successfully and argued plausibly, this is a ray of hope in these bleak times in international relations.' Beatrice Heuser, University of Glasgow

'For some seventy years, Hans Blix has contributed significantly to the study and practice - and practical application - of international law. For decades, he served as Sweden's most senior international legal official in its Foreign Ministry, eventually as Foreign Minister, as Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and as the chief of the international inspectorate surveying Iraq's armaments.A pre-eminent preoccupation has been substituting the rule of law for recourse to international warfare. His study, A Farewell to Wars, while hopefully entitled, comes as Europe has reverted to being the field of major aggression and embattled self-defence. Its timeliness is all the greater.' Judge Stephen Schwebel

Hans Blix is a Swedish diplomat who has previously served as Foreign Minister of Sweden (1978-1979), Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (1981-1995) and Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq (2000-2003). He has previously published Disarming Iraq (2004) and Why Nuclear Disarmament Matters (2008).

1. Introduction; 2. Interstate uses of force, tensions, and restraints by regions since World War II; 3. Interstate uses of force, tensions, and restraints during major phases of international relations since World War II; 4. Incentives to the interstate uses of force and restraints; 5. Historical evolution of norms and other means to restrain the use of force; 6. Overview of disincentives to and restraints on the interstate use of force; 7. Military strength to deter others from using force; 8. Nuclear and other non-conventional weapons and means as deterrents and threats; 9. Disarmament as restraint on the use of force; 10. Preventing the interstate use of force by preventing or solving conflicts: mediation, arbitration, fact-finding, diplomacy; 11. Restraints on the interstate use of force through legal norms; 12. UN Charter articles relating to the use of force; 13. The Security Council may use or authorize states or regional organizations to use force; 14. The right to individual and collective self-defence as an exception to Article 2:4; 15. Interventions triggered by factors unforeseen at the adoption of the Charter's ban on the interstate use of force; 16. Interventions seeking regime change, protection of people or punishment; 17. Findings regarding the role of norms to restrain the interstate use of force; 18. States are saying farewell to wars.