The term “legal” immediately leads to questions about which law or standards are being applied. The more important idea is “will significant portions of the international community object to this action?”, while obviously excluding rogue and pariah states.
Using the more practical standard of pissing off other countries, yes an invasion can happen under pretenses that won’t draw international ire. A great example is peacekeeping. If the government of a country collapses for whatever reason, a UN sanctioned force will frequently invade that country and keep a lid on things to stop violent groups from rising up in the ensuing power vacuum. This is happening right now with Kenyan troops in Haiti.
Other examples of “legal” (justified) invasions are for regime change and counterterrorism actions, but these are far more controversial (depending on the circumstances) and/or might be accomplished with a raid.
The one thing that is pretty sure to piss off just about everyone is invasion for the purpose of territorial gain. Everybody except for the usual suspects (China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) thinks that’s not a cool thing to do these days.
The term “legal” immediately leads to questions about which law or standards are being applied. The more important idea is “will significant portions of the international community object to this action?”, while obviously excluding rogue and pariah states.
Using the more practical standard of pissing off other countries, yes an invasion can happen under pretenses that won’t draw international ire. A great example is peacekeeping. If the government of a country collapses for whatever reason, a UN sanctioned force will frequently invade that country and keep a lid on things to stop violent groups from rising up in the ensuing power vacuum. This is happening right now with Kenyan troops in Haiti.
Other examples of “legal” (justified) invasions are for regime change and counterterrorism actions, but these are far more controversial (depending on the circumstances) and/or might be accomplished with a raid.
The one thing that is pretty sure to piss off just about everyone is invasion for the purpose of territorial gain. Everybody except for the usual suspects (China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) thinks that’s not a cool thing to do these days.