Justified War, Iraq and Reform of the United Nations

May 21, 2004

20 May 2004
London

In co-operation with the Centre of Global Studies, the World Political Forum participated in the one day Colloquium on Justified War, Iraq and Reform of the United Nations.

One of the main themes of the meeting was the consideration of under what conditions resort to war is justifiable, what methods of fighting wars are right and how this can be fruitfully applied by the UN, main custodian of international law. Another important subject was the Iraqui war which was a central issue in the whole Colloquium but also the conceptual framework of war, in a political but also philosophical and ethical perspective was discussed.

A question that emerged is whether a collective security system set up to protect states against would-be conquerors can become an instrument for qualifying state sovereignty to make the world a better place. Important personalities as professor Lord Skidelsky, Lord Owen and notable experts argued on these themes deeply analyzing the real situation that we have to face.