Think from KERA The U.N. Charter used to prevent war
Jan 28, 2026
Oona A. Hathaway, Yale law and political science scholar and president-elect of the American Society of International Law. She explores how the U.N. Charter once curbed conquest with law and institutions. She discusses how U.S. stretches of self-defense and shifting enforcement weaken norms. She warns powerful states ignoring rules could unravel the postwar order.
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Sanctions And Non‑Recognition As Replacements
- Economic sanctions, non-recognition, and diplomacy became core tools to enforce the prohibition on conquest after 1945.
- Hathaway notes these measures made territorial seizure largely unacceptable in modern statecraft.
Kuwait War As Enforcement Example
- The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait illustrated global consensus against territorial conquest and led to a UN‑backed military response.
- Hathaway uses the Kuwait case to show how states collectively enforced the Charter's norms.
* measurable Decline In Conquest*
- Empirical data shows territorial conquests declined over 90% after the Charter era, reducing battle deaths and stabilizing borders.
- Hathaway attributes measurable human-safety gains to the legal order established post‑WWII.
