The Use of Force in the Persian Gulf

One of the most serious, relevant, and fateful questions concerning the use of force under international law is what actions were open—and under what circumstances—to the forces of the United States and other countries arrayed against Iraq in the Persian Gulf region in 1990. The original deployments in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region were made in response to the armed attack on Kuwait and thus could be seen as an exercise of the inherent right of collective self-defense. In the Persian Gulf situation, however, as is true more often than not, the international legal analysis highlights the practical realities of the situation. As a practical matter, in the fall of 1990, it was no longer possible for the United States to use force in the Persian Gulf without the concurrence of those engaged with it. In the Persian Gulf situation it suggests that the presumption against unilateral use of force, always heavy, gains even greater strength.