Preventive War: Do Weapons of Mass Destruction Change the Rules?

The right of states to respond preemptively to imminent threats is well established under customary international law, but does the destructive power of weapons of mass destruction permit states to act in self-defense against WMD programs even when the threats they pose are not immediate or clearly-defined?

A panel discussion held on January 27, 2009.
Copley Formal Lounge, Georgetown University Main Campus.

Listen to the full event.

From Left to Right: Dr. Catherine Lotrionte (Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics), Mr. Leonard Spector, Esq. (Director of the Washington Office of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies), The Honorable James Baker (Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces), CDR Chris Bidwell (Defense Threat Reduction Agency), Col. (Ret.) Guy Roberts (NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for WMD), Dr. Anthony Arend (Director, Georgetown University Master of Science in Foreign Service Program), Sean Murphy, S.J.D. (Professor, The George Washington University School of Law), Dr. Christopher Joyner (Director, Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics).

Featured Speakers

ANTHONY AREND, Ph. D.

Director, Master of Science in Foreign Service Program
Georgetown University

Anthony Clark Arend is Director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University With Professor Christopher C. Joyner, he founded the Institute for International Law & Politics at Georgetown and served as co-director of the Institute from 2003-2008. His is also an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to coming to Georgetown, he was a Senior Fellow at the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia, School of Law. He has also served as an Articles Editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law.

HON. JAMES BAKER

United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

James Baker is Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. President Clinton appointed James Baker to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces on September 19, 2000. Judge Baker previously served as Special Assistant to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC) (1997-2000), where he advised the President, the National Security Advisor and the NSC staff on U.S. and international law involving national security, including: use of force, the law of armed conflict, intelligence activities, foreign assistance, terrorism, arms control, human rights, and international law enforcement. Judge Baker also served as Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (1994-1997) and as Counsel to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board. As an attorney adviser in the Office of the Legal Advisor, Department of State, he provided advice on law enforcement, intelligence, and counter-terrorism as well as serving as legal adviser to U.S. delegations to various environmental negotiations. Judge Baker served as a legislative aide and acting Chief of Staff to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1985-1987).

SEAN MURPHY, S.J.D.

Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law,
George Washington University Law School

Sean Murphy is the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University School of Law. Before joining the Law School faculty in 1998 at George Washington University, Professor Murphy served as legal counselor at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, arguing several cases before the International Court of Justice and representing the U.S. government in matters before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and The Hague Conference on Private International Law. He also served as U.S. agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, arguing cases on behalf of the U.S. government and providing advice to U.S. nationals appearing before that tribunal.Professor Murphy is a member of the board of editors of the American Journal of International Law. His most recent books are United States Practice in International Law, Volume 1: 1999-2001 (2002) and Volume 2: 2002-2004 (2005), and Principles of International Law (2006).

Col GUY ROBERTS, USMC (Ret)

Deputy Assistant Secretary General for WMD, NATO

Guy Roberts is the Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy and Director, Nuclear Policy Planning Directorate for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In that capacity he is responsible for developing policy on issues related to combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and overseeing NATO's nuclear deterrence posture. Previously Mr. Roberts was Principal Director for Negotiations Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for advising senior Defense Department officials on the entire range of United States arms control and non-proliferation policies. He was also responsible for implementing policy guidance and DoD positions for current and emerging proliferation issues in multilateral arms control and disarmament fora.

Mr. Leonard Spector of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies introduces the speakers and the topic of discussion.

Dr. Arend, Director of the Georgetown University Master of Science in Foreign Service (M.S.F.S.) Program presents his view on the legality of preventive war to arrest WMD proliferation.

The Honorable James Baker presents his view on the legality of Preventive War.

Professor Sean Murphy, of the George Washington University Law School addresses the topic.

Col (Ret.) Guy Roberts, USMC, now NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for WMD presents his views.

Dr. Catherine Lotrionte of the Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics thanks the speakers and opens the floor for questions

Professors Arend and Murphy respond to a question.

CDR Chris Bidwell of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency poses a question.

Dr. Christopher Joyner, Director of the Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics asks the panelists to summarize their arguments in 5 words or less.

The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies,
The Georgetown University Institute for International Law and Politics,
and the Nonproliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament Interest Group of the American Society of International Law