Intervention by invitation and the scope of state consent*
Journal: Journal on the Use of Force and International Law
Year: 2023

In July 2023, the democratically elected president in Niger was overthrown in a military coup. The ousted president called on the international community to help restore democracy in Niger and ECOWAS threatened to use force to achieve this objective. This article explores whether ECOWAS's threat of force was lawful under international law on the basis of the doctrine of intervention by invitation and considers two possible grounds. First, given Niger's membership of ECOWAS and the AU, it examine