Pillar: Weighing Strikes on North Korea, Iran, Pakistan American Bar Association Section of International Law - Hyatt Regency on Capitol HIll On the Rim of the Abyss: Military Intervention to Neutralize a Potential Nuclear Threat Many have wondered whether Taliban or al Qaeda may wrest control of nuclear arsenals from Pakistani forces, whether instability in the isolated and disaffected regime in North Korea will alter the likelihood of its use of nuclear weapons and whether a nascent Iranian nuclear capability will emerge in the context of an aggressive Iranian regime.
This panel will discuss whether international controls exist to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands within a sovereign nation. The experts will discuss whether an obligation or a right to intervene militarily arises and the nature of that intervention. They will discuss what constitutes loss of control by a responsible regime, who is charged with making a determination that such a loss has occurred and based upon what information. They will consider whether there exists a moral or ethical imperative to intervene by conventional military means in order to prevent a takeover of nuclear weapons by rogue elements. They will discuss the scenario of a pre-emptive nuclear strike, and what are the means and legal justifications for either conducting or preventing such an option.
Sponsoring Committees: National Security Committee, Aerospace and Defense Industries Committee, Asia/Pacific Committee, Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee
Co-Sponsor: ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security
Program Chair: JOHN H. HARRINGTON The Law Offices of John H. Harrington, LLC New York, New York
Program Chair & Moderator: JONATHAN M. MEYER Attorney at Law New York, New York
Speakers: SEAN MURPHY The George Washington University Law School Washington, DC
PAUL R. PILLAR Paul R. Pillar, Georgetown University Law Center Washington, DC
HARVEY RISHIKOF National Defense University Washington, DC
RUTH WEDGWOOD SAIS Johns Hopkins University Washington, DC
