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Concept
Police action
Summary
In security studies and international relations, a police action is a military action undertaken without a formal declaration of war. In the 21st century, the term has been largely supplanted by "counter-insurgency". Since World War II, formal declarations of war have been rare, especially military actions conducted by the Global North during the Cold War. Rather, nations involved in military conflict (especially the great powers) sometimes describe the conflict by fighting the war under the auspices of a "police action" to show that it is a limited military operation, different from total war.
The earliest use of the phrase dates back to 1883, describing attempts by Dutch and British forces to liberate the 28-man crew of the SS Nisero, who were held hostage in Sumatra. The Dutch term politionele acties (police actions) was used for this. The Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Eleventh Edition called it in its 1933 issue; a localized military action undertaken without formal declaration of war by regular armed forces against persons (as guerrillas or aggressors) held to be violators of international peace and order. It was also used to imply a formal claim of sovereignty by colonial powers, such as in the military actions of the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Western powers during conflicts such as the Indonesian National Revolution and the Malayan Emergency.
The various Banana Wars, from April 21, 1898 to August 1, 1934, were called police actions by the US government.
The two major Dutch military offensives, of July 1947 and December 1948, during the Indonesian National Revolution were referred to by the Dutch government as the first and second politionele acties.
The 1948 action, by India, against Hyderabad State, code named Operation Polo, was referred to as a police action by the government.
In the early days of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman referred to the United States response to the North Korean invasion of South Korea as a "police action" under the aegis of the United Nations.
Official source
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