10.15166/2499-8249/148
O'Connell, Mary Ellen
Mary Ellen
O'Connell
University of Notre Dame
Europe and Syria: Diplomacy, Law and War
European Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu)
2017
Overview
diplomacy
intervention
law
militarism
peace
war
Research Centre For European Law, Unitelma Sapienza-University Of Rome
2017-06-19
en
2499-8249
text/html
PDF
Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International
European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2017 2(1), 15-21
European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2017 2(1), 15-21
I. Introduction. - II. A growing fascination with armed force. - III. Reviving the art of peace through law - IV. Conclusion.
The conflict in Syria is entering its sixth year with no clear end in sight. EU Member States have a choice - continue or even escalate military involvement or seek an effective path to peace. Member States cannot do both because military involvement violates international law. Seeking peace requires using the methods of diplomacy on the basis of adherence to international law. Six years of unlawful intervention has not worked. It is time to give peaceful settlement a real chance, something the EU and its Member States have hardly done to date.