Postwar | Harvard National Security Journal

The article by Robert M. Chesney discusses whether it matters from a legal perspective whether the U.S. government continues to maintain that it is in an armed conflict with al Qaeda. Critics of the use of lethal force and military detention argue that shifting to a postwar framework will result in significant practical change. However, Chesney argues that shifting from the armed-conflict model to a postwar framework would have far less of a practical impact than both assume. The Obama Administration has made clear that lethal force would remain on the table even under a postwar model. The continuous-threat framework is consistent with the government’s existing approach to targeting within the armed-conflict model. The situation with respect to military detention is different, but the abandonment of long-term military detention as a policy option means that the theoretical loss of legal authority to detain in the postwar period will have comparatively little real consequence. Chesney concludes that moving to postwar would not generate the sea change that advocates seek and opponents fear.



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