Abstract
A MEMORANDUM on the functions of an international air force has been issued by the governing committee of the New Commonwealth and by the Parliamentary Group of the British Section of the Society. Discussing the uses of an international air force, it is emphasised that the code of policing regulations to be drawn up must distinguish between acts of aggression and cases of default. Two distinct policing functions are involved those of defence and of enforcement. The role of the international air force is that of a reinforcing agency, aimed at bringing aggressive action to a standstill. It is precluded from assuming the offensive, but to be effective the intervention of an international air force must be made in the shortest possible space of time. The main objective would be to paralyse the military activities of the aggressor and compel him to desist from hostilities, and distinction between military objectives and civilian centres is unlikely to be practicable. An international air force might also conceivably be called upon to enforce the decisions or awards of an international court or tribunal, but its main object is deterrent and its functions are those of a police and not of a military force. Attention is also directed to the psychological factors involved.
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An International Air Force. Nature 137, 527 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137527c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137527c0