War Powers

This article offers a comparative survey of war-power arrangements in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, and Japan. The United Kingdom, United States, and France - long-standing liberal democracies and permanent members of the UN Security Council - have been quite active in deploying military forces abroad. In contrast, Germany, and Japan are latecomers both as liberal democracies and as participants in international military operations. The article focuses mainly on powers of initiating armed conflicts, including that of deploying armed forces into actual or potential conflicts, but deals neither with conducting war nor ending it, nor with related treaty-making power.