Chapter

Multinational operations

Richard C. Gross and Ian Henderson

U.S. military operations : law, policy, and practice

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016

p. 341-369

English

This chapter explains the key legal issues that may arise in multinational operations, focusing specifically on coalition building; state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts; and the role and impact of national caveats on operations. The chapter explains how legal advisors aid in reconciling potential areas of legal divergence among potential coalition partners, providing an essential legal framework to encourage coalition sustainment. The chapter then explores how a number of critical issues are frequently addressed in practice, to include rules of engagement, targeting authorities, and disparate legal obligations. The chapter then illustrates this coalition building and sustainment process through several common examples of coalition operations, such as in a combined task force. Finally, the chapter explains how national legal and operational caveats must be factored into mission planning and execution once the coalition is formed.

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• U.S. military operations : law, policy, and practice / ed. by Geoffrey S. Corn, Rachel E. VanLandingham and Shane R. Reeves ; foreword by Stanley A. McChrystal