Lecture by Dr. Louis Fisher

“Every US President from 1789 to 1950 knew that if they wanted to go from the state of peace to the state of war, they had to go to the Congress for a declaration or war or a specific authorisation of war.” Dr. Fisher.

Yet, how could President Obama authorise the recent US actions in Libya without congress’s approval? In the lecture, organised by Käte Hamburger Kolleg/ Centre for Global Cooperation Research (GCR21) and the Amerika Haus Nordrhein-Westfalen on 14^th May 2012, Dr. Louis Fisher gave a comprehensive explanation to this question. His 90-minute lecture walked the audiences through the changes in war decision making process of the United States from 1789 to the current dates.

Upon its ratification in 1789, the United State Constitution shifted the foreign affairs power from the executive to the legislative branch. War decisions can no longer be made by one person and must be passed by the US Congress. This change, however, faced another turn after WWII. Under the Truman administration, unconventional terms other than “war” (e.g., "UN police actions" and "military operations") were used to describe foreign affairs actions in order to opt out the constitutional procedure for declaring war. Avoiding the legislative branch, the executive felt sufficiently authorised through mandates from the United Nations Security Council and the NATO. The major factors that paved the way for the further unchecked power of the US President included the beginning of the cold war and Truman’s doctrine against communism. While the threatening outbreak of the ‘real’ war kept the legislative’s objection at bay, limited sense of freedom as a result of the Truman’s doctrine prevented counterarguments from scholars.

Does history repeat itself? The last part of the lecture took the audiences back to President Obama’s recent operations in Libya whose authorisation was as well granted by the United Nations Security Council but not put before the US Congress. Many similarities to Truman’s action in 1950 can be identified including attempts to define violent actions of the operation as ‘non war’. “The legal memo of the operation confirmed that the operation causes no hostility. Therefore, no war.” Dr. Fisher. In the concluding discussion, audiences focussed their questions on the possible alternative channels through which this unconstitutional procedure can be challenged.

Additional details on Dr. Fisher's views on the war power can be found on his personal webpage: http://loufisher.org

Käte Hamburger Kolleg/ Centre for Global Cooperation Research (GCR21) is organising its inaugural “Käte Hamburger Lecture” on 11^th June 2012 at KWI Essen Goethestraße 31., in which Oxford University Professor Timothy Garton Ash will hold a lecture on the topic “Can (and should) there be Global Norms for Freedom of Expression?” (For further information, please visit www.gcr21.org)

 

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