Salvaging the Caroline: An examination of states use of force in self-defense against non-state actors

Given the prevalence of instant and often overwhelming punditry via radio, TV, and the Internet this dissertation seeks to parse, to the extent possible, opinion and politics from fact with regard to the preemptive application of force in self-defense within the international system. Too often have commentators, learned and political, resorted in their analysis to what should be in direct contrast to what has been or what is. This dissertation aims to lay bare the foundations of the modern regime governing recourse to force in self-defense via a careful examination of primary sources; a through legal-historical analysis of customary law, states practice, Opinio Juris, and travaux préparatoires; and the judicious use of illustrative case studies. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it