VOX POPULI: Ultimately, international law our only ‘tool' to resolve conflicts

Asahi Shimbun

14-06-2025

Missiles launched from Iran are seen from Jerusalem on June 13. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Israel on June 13 mounted a sustained offensive against Iran by targeting nuclear and military sites as well as other structures.
But why now, when something of this magnitude could escalate into a global crisis?
Reading Israel's statement justifying its actions as 'self-defense' and 'pre-emptive' in nature, I recalled the words of a certain scholar of international law I interviewed years ago.
I visited Italian jurist Antonio Cassese (1937-2011) at his home to hear his views on war and the international criminal justice system. But he also went on to discuss the Iraq War and the Middle East.
When I asked his opinion on 'preventive pre-emptive strikes,' he cited an example, which went to the following effect:
'Let's say you believe Iran will use a nuclear weapon one year from now (and launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran) and justify it as self-defense, you must satisfy three conditions.
'One, you must be able to provide the United Nations with solid proof (of Iran's intent to use a nuclear weapon). Two, your pre-emptive attack must be aimed solely at 'dangerous targets,' not the Iranian government or its administrative system. And three, when you realize later that you were wrong to have attacked Iran, you must agree to be tried in an international court of law.'
But if the pre-emptive strike did not meet those three conditions, what then, I asked, and Cassese replied without missing a beat, 'Then, that's an act of aggression.'
He said conflicts cannot be resolved by armed force, only by international law, adding that multinational efforts to end conflicts are also of crucial importance.
Dutch humanist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), widely considered the 'father of international law,' published his seminal work 'On the Law of War and Peace' exactly 400 years ago.
I feel despair when I think that we humans cannot stop going to war, even though we regret it later, every time.
I wondered how Cassese would have reacted to the latest Israeli offensive, were he alive today.
Would he have raged against Israel for ignoring his three conditions?
My sense is that he probably would have appealed to the international community to act on international law, which he believed to be the only way to resolve conflicts.
--The Asahi Shimbun, June 14
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.