International Law and Drone Strikes in Pakistan: The Legal and Socio-political Aspects / Edition 1

by Sikander Ahmed Shah

Overview

While conventional warfare has an established body of legal precedence, the legality of drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan and elsewhere remains ambiguous. This book explores the legal and political issues surrounding the use of drones in Pakistan. Drawing from international treaty law, customary international law, and statistical data on the impact of the strikes, Sikander Ahmed Shah asks whether drone strikes by the United States in Pakistan are in compliance with international humanitarian law. The book questions how international law views the giving of consent between States for military action, and explores what this means for the interaction between sovereignty and consent.

The book goes on to look at the socio-political realities of drone strikes in Pakistan, scrutinizing the impact of drone strikes on both Pakistani politics and US-Pakistan relationships. Topics include the Pakistan army-government relationship, the evolution of international institutions as a result of drone strikes, and the geopolitical dynamics affecting the region.

As a detailed and critical examination of the legal and political challenges presented by drone strikes, this book will be essential to scholars and students of the law of armed conflict, security studies, political science and international relations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138243194
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/08/2016
Series:	Routledge Research in the Law of Armed Conflict
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	257
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sikander Ahmed Shah is Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan (LUMS)

Table of Contents

1. Legality of Drone Strikes 2. Consent and Territorial Sovereignty 3. Drones and Compliance with Human Rights Law 4. Drones Strikes and Compliance with International Humanitarian Law 5. The Social and Political Impact of Drones in Pakistan 6. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This is an important book. As well as evaluating the illegality of the use of drones in Pakistan, Shah highlights the dangers of facilitating military intervention without consequences, whilst also bringing to the forefront the forgotten voices in this debate, the victims – whose voices have only recently been heard through improved political interest and strategic litigation." -Clive Stafford Smith OBE, founder and Director of Reprieve.

"Sikander Ahmed Shah has produced a substantial, powerful book on a most difficult and, one may say, disturbing topic. The book gives fair treatment to both sides of the argument as well as the 'convoluted'state of affairs in Pakistan, and no doubt will leave every conscientious reader with a heavy heart. One hopes that the same will be true with commanders and policy-makers, and that this will have a positive effect on their decision-making." -Changjiang Xuezhe, Professor of International Law and Chief Expert, Wuhan University Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies and Institute of International Law, China, as seen in Chinese Journal of International Law (2016), 709-716

'This is an important book. As well as evaluating the illegality of the use of drones in Pakistan, Shah highlights the dangers of facilitating military intervention without consequences, whilst also bringing to the forefront the forgotten voices in this debate, the victims – whose voices have only recently been heard through improved political interest and strategic litigation.'

Clive Stafford Smith OBE, founder and Director of Reprieve.

'Shah has made a timely contribution to the debate on drones and international law, which is novel in its critical perspective but, more so, in its desire to highlight drones not simply as a question touching pure doctrinal law, but one with deep human, political and social implications. It is in that area that the strengths of the book lie. I would recommend this book to international lawyers dealing with armed conflict gen-erally but also to critical and Third World Approaches to International Law scholars grappling with questions of international governance and power.'

Max Byrne, University of Reading School of Law, Journal of Conflict and Security Law

From the Publisher