if not morally defensible means to a known end.
             History since the thirty years war (1648) has seen a process of state building by the European powers. Centralising monarchies by the 18th century has slowly gained a monopoly of force within there own territories and began to establish themselves as sovereign states. The concept of sovereignty was underpinned by the supreme authority of dynastic rule, that provided the residing monarch unshakeable authority. War altered with the advent of napoleon and his imperialistic ideals. War turned from a limited exercise to a waged campaign of annihilation. Napoleons political ambitions preceded those of the previous century in its intensity, and the cost in life and money spurred an attempt to curb wars effects. The Congress of Vienna is the first diplomatic attempt to limit the effects and causes of war between states, still the great powers continued their nation building until the first world war. The great war shattered a period of relative peace, its terrible consequences causing a shift in public opinion against war-fare. Increasing restraints were imposed upon the use of war as a means of furthering political ambition, the Kellogg Braind pact of 1928 compelled its signatories to exhaust diplomatic proceduer before violence. Those who violated the pact were guilty of 'crimes against humanity'. This demonstrates the appeal of the 'strong state' to developing nations , and that war between states continued despite attempts to curb it. This culminated eventually in the 'Cold war', the ultimate State versus state stand off, the vast military resources and the human consequence nuclear weapons made the nations impotent by virtue of the destructive capability they possessed. This history generally supports the Clausewitzen definition of war, that it remains a means of serving the state.
             In the second half of this century the use of force remains a distinct possibility in the interactions ...