I only ask because I recently observed in a data dump:
Given that the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution actually named the several states as the parties Britain was recognizing as independent as part of America (and even Americans didn't start thinking of America as the United States instead of these United States until after the Civil War), could Britain have pulled a slick move and declared war only on certain American states in 1812 in order to split apart an America divided on war with Britain? That never occurred to me until now.
Today we worry about Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as potential conventional war threats.
And while current concerns wonder if the post-9/11 AUMF against amorphous and evolving non-state jihadis perhaps encompasses too much, maybe we need to apply that to states.
Could Congress declare war on a part of a country rather than an entire country?
I mean, China, Russia, and Iran are basically empires that in theory could break up.
And I've already wondered if America could declare war just on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. So Iran is potentially vulnerable to another method of focused war. While North Korea is no empire, it could be vulnerable to this angle if we simply declare war on the North Korean Communist Party.
And what if enemies did that to us? After 9/11 there were some on the left who asked why al Qaeda hit the "Blue State" people of New York City rather than the "Red State" people who were really the enemy of the jihadis--not those pacifistic lefties who just wanted to know how we could change so as not to deserve jihadi hate.
If China declared war on America but stated that they were not including Hawaii, California, and New York, how would the leadership of those Blue States react?
Do we need legislation saying a declaration of war on any part of America is a declaration of war on all? Or is that kind of implied? Or explicit? Our states have the authority to defend themselves until the federal government can arrive to fight. Do they have the authority to refuse to fight--to be "sanctuary" pacifist states--when the federal government goes to war?
I know that we are in a Westphalian state-based system that is the very basis for the United Nations. But if we are really in a post-Westphalian system despite the formal global structure, wouldn't it be a good idea if wars reflected reality?
Can we declare war on ruling parties or specific regions of foreign countries?
