For the blog “Articles of War,” Head of the Department Prof. Erika de Wet, LL.M. (Harvard), shared some insights into her current research on defense treaties and defense alliances.
The post draws attention to key issues identified in the chapter entitled “Mutual Defense Treaties and Defense Groupings in the Indo-Pacific Region: An Introduction,” from a recent volume in the Lieber Studies series titled, Armed Conflict and International Law in the Indo-Pacific Region. These issues include ambiguities surrounding the nature of assistance obligations under the respective treaty frameworks, as well as their geographic scope. The post also highlights challenges to the durability of these agreements (illustrated most vividly by the reconfiguration of the ANZUS in 1986), and the risk of competing or overlapping legal obligations as alliances proliferate.
The article can be accessed here.