Legal Definitions - aggression

In international law, aggression refers to a nation's unlawful use of force or other severe coercive actions against another sovereign nation. It is considered a grave breach of international law and a serious international crime.

While there isn't one universally agreed-upon definition, the United Nations General Assembly has described aggression, in part, as "the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of another country, or in a manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations." This means any action by one state that violates another state's right to govern itself, control its own land, or make its own political decisions, without legal justification, can be considered aggression.

Aggression can take various forms:

• Direct aggression typically involves a state's regular armed forces engaging in military operations against another state.
• Indirect aggression involves other means, which may or may not include armed force, often carried out through third parties or non-military tactics designed to undermine a state's security or independence. This can include actions like severe economic pressure, extensive propaganda campaigns aimed at destabilizing a government, or supporting non-state armed groups.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of aggression:

• Targeted Missile Strikes: Imagine Country A, without any prior attack or UN authorization, launches a series of precision missile strikes against a specific military base located deep within the sovereign territory of Country B. Even if Country A claims the base housed individuals hostile to its interests, this action constitutes aggression because it involves the unauthorized use of armed force against Country B's territorial integrity and sovereignty. It is a direct military action that violates international law.

• State-Sponsored Cyber Warfare: Consider Country X launching a sophisticated and sustained cyberattack that systematically disables Country Y's critical national infrastructure, such as its power grid, water supply systems, and emergency communication networks. Although no physical weapons were used, this act severely compromises Country Y's ability to govern its essential services and protect its citizens, effectively undermining its sovereignty and political independence through non-military means. This would be an example of indirect aggression.

• Covert Political Destabilization: Suppose Country P, a powerful nation, covertly funds, trains, and directs a massive disinformation campaign and organizes large-scale, disruptive protests within Country Q, a smaller neighboring state. The explicit goal of these actions is to undermine Country Q's democratically elected government and force it to change its independent foreign policy, which Country P dislikes. This systematic interference, aimed at manipulating Country Q's internal politics and coercing a change in its sovereign decision-making, could be considered a form of indirect aggression, even without direct military involvement.