On September 20, 2014, the government of Iraq informed the UN Security Council (SC) that it had requested the United States to lead international efforts to strike Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) sites. The strikes would end the constant threat posed by ISIL to Iraq, protect Iraq’s citizens, and ultimately enable Iraq to regain control of its borders.[1] The U.S. asserted that this request extended to ISIL sites in Syria.[2]

This Insight focuses on two aspects of this development. The first concerns the right of the government of Iraq, deprived of control over significant parts of Iraqi territory, to receive international assistance. The second concerns the reach of such assistance beyond the borders of Iraq, to Syria, in application of the right to collective self-defense.