In the First Part of this comment we have seen that reference to article 51 of the UN Chapter in order to justify Operation Serval, is problematic. We will now discuss the two other legal arguments used by France.  Consent of the Malian Authorities The argument according to which the authorities of Mali had…

Part 1: The Argument of Collective Self-Defense Dr. Theodore Christakis is Professor of International Law at the University Grenoble-Alpes (France). He is Director of the Centre for International Security and European Studies (CESICE) and chairman of the ESIL Interest Group on Peace and Security. Dr. Karine Bannelier is Assistant Professor of…