Indian Journal of Law and Human Behavior Volume 4 Number 2, July - December 2018 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijlhb.2454.7107.4218.6 Original Article © Red Flower Publication Pvt. Ltd. Legitimacy of the Use of Force in International Relations: Analysing the State Practices Abstract ‘Use of force’ has been the most debatable topic in international law. The principle has been practiced in international relations for a long time and is directly associated with the sovereignty of states and states employ all possible ways to protect it. The international community needs to limit and regulate the use of force in order to secure harmonious and mutually beneficial co-existence. Lack of mutual trust among the nations has been one of the foremost reasons for ‘use of force’. The UN Charter is the primary instrument guiding the use of force in international relations. There are two views for the ‘use of force’ in international relations- restrictive and permissive. Under the UN Charter, as per the restrictive view, there is a total ban on the use of force except for two cases, i.e self- defence under Article 51 and enforcement action under Chapter VII of Charter. As per the permissive view, States are allowed to use force under situations like regime change or for humanitarian intervention. The United States of America in its war against terrorism has adopted pre- emptive self-defence policy. The present paper highlights the current legal regime for the use of force and seeks to analyse the recent developments and their influence on the legality of use of force by states. It tries to find an answer to what are the boundaries for ‘use of force’ under the UN Charter. An attempt has also been made to discuss in brief the Israel-Palestine conflict. Keywords : Use of Force; Pre-Emptive Force; Armed-Attack; Humanitarian Intervention Self-Defence. Author Affiliation *Assistant Professor of Law **Research Scholar in Law (UGC-JRF), Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226012, India. Corresponding Author Aparna Singh, Assistant Professor of Law, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University Lucknow LDA, Kanpur Road Scheme, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226012, India. E-mail: greeneyeaparna@gmail.com Received on 17.09.2018 Accepted on 01.10.2018 Aparna Singh*, Udai Pratap Singh** Introduction The Use of Force is undoubtedly among the most debated topics in international law as well as international relations. Indeed, the rules concerning the use of force form a central part of the international legal system, and, together with other fundamental principles, they have for a long time provided the framework for organized international intercourse and successful coexistence of states. The domestic societies as well as the international community need to limit and regulate the use of force in order to secure harmonious and mutually beneficial co-existence. After the 1 st World War the international legal system has attempted to maintain peaceful co- existence, but due to multiple reasons this has not been an easy job. Lack of mutual trust among the nations has been one of the most important reason for this. Due to this the states often resort to the Use of Force in their international relations, and they try to justify their actions by giving their own interpretations of the international law. Further with the rise of neo-colonialism the powerful nations often seek intervention in the domestic matters of other poor and weak nations and use force on false pretexts so as to install puppet regimes in those states for their own interests. Such pISSN: 2454-7107, eISSN: 2455-4189