US WAR AGAINST IRAQ AND THE MEANING STRUCTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSYTEM

The US invasion against Iraq in 2003 can be regarded as one of the turning points in the evolution of International Relations as a discipline. Following the end of the Cold War, it was expected that a new world order would be built on the basis of a more important role for international institutions and more emphasis on multilateralism. The United States, however, resorted to war almost unilaterally and without the authorization of relevant international bodies. Furthermore, it presented a new strategic doctrine, that is, the doctrine of preemptive (and even preventive) war. Many countries as well as social groups opposed the US invasion. The main objective of this article is to explain these oppositions on the basis of international meaning structure. It is argued that the US action was widely regarded as a violation of the fundamental rules of the international society. In the first part of the article a conceptual framework based on the insights of the English School and Constructivism is developed to emphasize the significance of ideational and normative aspects of international life. The second part examines the Westphalian society of states, its most important constitutive and regulatory rules, and the ways in which these have been modified in the course of time. Then the war against Iraq is explained as a violation of principles, rules, and norms of the society of states. And the concluding part explains how the oppositions against the US invasion were an expression of dissatisfaction with any attempt to change the fundamentals of the existing system.