The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom : Did international law permit the threat of the use of force?

The political, economic and diplomatic relations between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States (US) have been intense since their early histories. Even though the US recognised the independence of the Kingdom in the 19th century, the eight Hawaiian Islands were regarded indispensable for the US for its control over the Pacific. Its strategical position became a necessity for the US, which led it to employing all of its means to gain power over the Kingdom. The core of our article is the examination of the threat of the use of force, through which the US gained influence over the Islands, leading to the American occupation in 1898. Globally, the use of force was still permitted in international relations, however, in the American region, the situation was different.