Revisiting the Vietnam War and International Law
Views and Interpretations of Richard Falk

A collection of essays on the legal aspects of the Vietnam War by one of its most respected commentators.

Stefan Andersson (Edited by)

9781108419154, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 December 2017

438 pages
23.6 x 15.7 x 2.9 cm, 0.73 kg

'Richard Falk, one of the most prominent living academics in the field of international law, has been an insightful critic of the US war in Vietnam. For those who were caught up the Vietnam War, this book offers a ray of hope that the atrocities of that war will not be forgotten and its lessons will be learned by new generations. If we are to have a future free of war, we must recognize illegality in warfare when it occurs, and new generations must learn to respect international law, particularly the criminal accountability for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity set forth in the Nuremberg Principles and the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court. I hope this book will be widely read throughout the world and certainly by citizens and leaders who have responsibility for decisions to use military force and for the conduct of wars.' David Krieger, President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

This collection of scholarly and critical essays about the legal aspects of the Vietnam War explores various crimes committed by the United States against North Vietnam: war of aggression; war crimes in bombing civilian targets such as schools and hospitals, and using napalm, cluster bombs, and Agent Orange; crimes against humanity in moving large parts of the population to so-called strategic hamlets; and alleged genocide and ecocide. International lawyer Richard Falk, who observed these acts personally in North Vietnam in 1968, uses international law to show how they came about. This book brings together essays that he has written on the Vietnam War and on its relationship to international law, American foreign policy, and the global world order. Falk argues that only a stronger adherence to international law can save the world from such future tragedies and create a sustainable world order.

Foreword: the harmful legacy of lawlessness in Vietnam Richard Falk
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. The US Role in Vietnam and International Law: 1. A Vietnam settlement: the view from Hanoi
2. US in Vietnam: rationale and law
3. International law and the United States role in the Vietnam War
4. International law and the United States role in Vietnam: A Response to Professor Moore
5. The six legal dimensions of the United States involvement in the Vietnam War
Part II. War and War Crimes: 6. Appropriating Tet
7. Son My: war crimes and individual responsibility
8. The Cambodian Operation and international law
Part III. The Vietnam War and the Nuremberg Principles: 9. The Nuremberg Defense in the Pentagon Papers case
10. A Nuremberg perspective on the trial of Karl Armstrong
11. Telford Taylor and the legacy of Nuremberg
Part IV. The Legacy of the Vietnam War: 12. Learning from Vietnam
13. The Vietnam syndrome: from the Gulf of Tonkin to Iraq
14. 'The Vietnam Syndrome' the Kerrey Revelations raise anew issues of morality and military power
15. Why the legal debate on the Vietnam War still matters
Index.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB], International law [LB], Law [L], International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP], Society & social sciences [J], Military history: post WW2 conflicts [HBWS], The Cold War [HBTW]