The Legitimacy of the International Coalition Intervention against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in Light of International Law

Internal armed conflict in Syria has been the basis for the widespread violations of international law as well as the growth and formation of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In this regard, the Security Council despite adopting resolutions condemning radicalization to terrorism, could not take any appropriate and binding decision to end this crisis because of the existence of the opposing viewpoints of the great powers and the intervention of some Arabic and regional countries. This factors led the US to establish the Global Coalition along with some other countries to combat ISIS. Although this was a positive move and showed the international community’s concerns to inhumane acts, it has given rise to questions as to whether its formation and activities are legitimate in the light of international law or not? These countries have attempted to interpret different categories of international law in the form of coalition partners. They also challenged the fundamental principles of the UN Charter by using force in the territory of the host State, because the use of force without three preconditions (the authorization of the Security Council, valid consent of the government and recoursing to article 51 of the charter regardless of its legal status) has no legal effect in contemporary international law and brings the international order back to the legal order prior to the adoption of the UN Charter.