Nicaragua and the Law of Self-Defense Revisited

Abstract

For nearly eight years, the Nicaraguan question has been the most heatedly disputed issue of American foreign policy since the end of the Vietnam War. It has focussed the attention of Congress, which continues to consider Administration proposals to provide assistance to the Contras, and the American and Western press. Nicaragua has brought aspects of Nicaraguan-American relations before the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.), and Carlos Tiimermann, Nicaragua's Ambassador to the United States, recently summarized his country's case in this Journal Consciously or unconsciously, participants in the discussion are also addressing the future of world public order and of American foreign policy.