LWMTUM: The Use of Military Force

Module code: LWMTUM

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Russell Buchan , email: r.buchan@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The Use of Military Force explores a major area of public international law (also referred to as the jus ad bellum) that deals with the military action of States. It examines the prohibition on the threat and use of force in international law and its accompanying exceptions. As such, the module offers a unique insight into some of the most controversial and fundamental aspects of the modern international legal order and their manifestations in practice (such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, international military intervention in the non-international armed conflict in Syria, and 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine). It analyses the successes and failures of that order in attempting to, as the UN Charter put it in 1945, ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. The module asks when – and under what circumstances – it is lawful to resort to military force. This question is assessed through an abstract examination of the law and detailed real-world case studies. 

This module examines the international law relating to when it is permissible to use force. It aims to develop an understanding of the principles of international law that regulate the use of military force in international society. In particular, it deals with the prohibition of the use of force in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and the recognised exceptions to that prohibition (namely the use of force authorized by the UN Security Council and the use of force in self-defence). As such, students will engage with key controversial uses of force from the modern era. The aim is for students to gain a detailed substantive understanding of the law on the of force, but also to understand both its value and limitations in practice. In addition, the module examines related concepts and doctrines, including military intervention by invitation, the use of force in self-defence against non-State actors, and the responsibility to protect. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Draw upon a body of detailed and substantive knowledge of the international law of the use of military force gained through both class participation and self-study, and apply this to an essay or problem question involving a fictional or actual armed conflict.  
2. Debate the relative legal merits of controversial claims made in the context of the international law on the use of military force.  
3. Demonstrate an ability to set the substantive law content of the module in a wider context, both legal and non-legal. 

Module content

The module will cover such topics as: 

• Introduction and History of the Law on the Use of Force 
• The Prohibition on the Threat and Use of Force 
• Humanitarian intervention, pro-democratic intervention and reprisals   
• The law of self-defence: Part I   
• The law of self-defence: Part II  
• Military Intervention by Invitation 
• Collective Security 
• Cyber Uses of Force and Self-Defence  
• The Interrelationship between Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello  
• Case Studies: The Wars between Ukraine/Russia and Isarel/Hamas  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching in this module is designed to provide students with a range of resources on which they can draw in their learning. The main elements are: 

• A list of essential and recommended readings, with notes and questions that will be used