International incident
Encyclopedia
An international incident is a seemingly relatively small or limited action or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states. International incidents can arise from unanticipated actions involving citizens, government officials, or armed units of one or more nation-states, or out of a deliberate but small provocative actions by espionage
agents of one nation-state, or by terrorists, against another nation-state.
An international incident usually arises during a time of relative peace
between nation-states, and in general is, on the surface, an unexpected event. Conflicts that grow out of a series of escallating skirmishes between nation-states generally are not considered international incidents; however, terrorist actions can and often do become international incidents. However, historical views of past international incidents often reveal the incident was the flashpoint of a simmering conflict between nation-states, or organizations opposing nation-states.
Wars have often been provoked by international incidents, and diplomatic
efforts to prevent international incidents from growing into full-scale armed conflicts often have been unsuccessful.
The term is also applied to various incidents that can disrupt international commerce
, and to celebrities or other well-known people who commit gaffes or otherwise act inappropriately, causing the press
and sometimes governments to criticize their actions.
The International Court of Justice
keeps a list of legal disputes between nation-states, many of which result from international incidents. The Royal Mail
of the United Kingdom
keeps a list on its website of current international incidents that might disrupt mail service. The incidents listed may or may not conform to the definitions given above.
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
agents of one nation-state, or by terrorists, against another nation-state.
An international incident usually arises during a time of relative peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
between nation-states, and in general is, on the surface, an unexpected event. Conflicts that grow out of a series of escallating skirmishes between nation-states generally are not considered international incidents; however, terrorist actions can and often do become international incidents. However, historical views of past international incidents often reveal the incident was the flashpoint of a simmering conflict between nation-states, or organizations opposing nation-states.
Wars have often been provoked by international incidents, and diplomatic
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
efforts to prevent international incidents from growing into full-scale armed conflicts often have been unsuccessful.
The term is also applied to various incidents that can disrupt international commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, and to celebrities or other well-known people who commit gaffes or otherwise act inappropriately, causing the press
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and sometimes governments to criticize their actions.
The International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
keeps a list of legal disputes between nation-states, many of which result from international incidents. The Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
keeps a list on its website of current international incidents that might disrupt mail service. The incidents listed may or may not conform to the definitions given above.
19th century
- Caroline AffairCaroline affairThe Caroline affair was a series of events beginning in 1837 that strained relations between the United States and Britain....
, which had a great effect on the development of international law - Trent affairTrent affairThe Trent Affair, also known as the Mason and Slidell Affair, was an international diplomatic incident that occurred during the American Civil War...
Early 20th century
- Assassination in Sarajevo
- Tampico AffairTampico AffairThe Tampico Affair started off as a minor incident involving U.S. sailors and Mexican land forces loyal to General Victoriano Huerta during the guerra de las facciones phase of the Mexican Revolution...
- Zimmermann TelegramZimmermann TelegramThe Zimmermann Telegram was a 1917 diplomatic proposal from the German Empire to Mexico to make war against the United States. The proposal was caught by the British before it could get to Mexico. The revelation angered the Americans and led in part to a U.S...
- USS Panay incidentPanay incidentThe USS Panay Incident was a Japanese attack on the American gunboat while she was anchored in the Yangtze River outside Nanking , China on December 12, 1937. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the American flags painted on the deck...
- Gleiwitz incidentGleiwitz incidentThe Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles on 31 August 1939, against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany on the eve of World War II in Europe....
Cold War era
- Lavon AffairLavon AffairThe Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and...
- Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- U-2 Crisis of 1960U-2 Crisis of 1960The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and during the leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union.The United States government at...
- Erection of Berlin WallBerlin WallThe Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
- Gulf of Tonkin IncidentGulf of Tonkin IncidentThe Gulf of Tonkin Incident, or the USS Maddox Incident, are the names given to two incidents, one fabricated, involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin...
- USS Liberty incidentUSS Liberty incidentThe USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, , by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy torpedo boats, on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members , wounded 170 crew members, and...
- USS Pueblo incidentUSS Pueblo (AGER-2)USS Pueblo is an American ELINT and SIGINT Banner-class technical research ship which was boarded and captured by North Korean forces on January 23, 1968, in what is known as the Pueblo incident or alternatively as the Pueblo crisis or the Pueblo affair. Occurring less than a week after President...
- Korean Air Flight 007Korean Air Flight 007Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on 1 September 1983, over the Sea of Japan, near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island...
- The sinking of the Rainbow WarriorSinking of the Rainbow WarriorThe sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure , carried out on July 10, 1985...
- 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing1986 Berlin discotheque bombingThe 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany, an entertainment venue that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers...
- Iraqi missile attack on USS Stark (FFG-31)USS Stark (FFG-31)USS Stark , 23rd ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark ....
Post-Cold War
- Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
- Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collisionEhime Maru and USS Greeneville collisionThe Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision was a ship collision between the United States Navy submarine USS Greeneville and the Japanese fishery high school training ship Ehime Maru on 9 February 2001, about off the south coast of Oahu, Hawaii, United States...
- Hainan Island incidentHainan Island incidentOn April 1, 2001, a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China called the Hainan...
- The 2006 execution in Texas of Mexican national Jesus Ledesma AguilarJesus Ledesma AguilarJesus Ledesma Aguilar was a Mexican national who became the 365th person executed by the U.S. state of Texas. His execution sparked an international incident between the United States and Mexico, which led to a lawsuit filed by Mexico against the United States in the International Court of...
- 2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnelIranian military personnel seized 15 Royal Navy personnel during 2007 and held them for 13 days. On 23 March 2007, 15 British Royal Navy personnel, from HMS Cornwall, searching a merchant vessel were surrounded by the Navy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and subsequently detained off the...
- ¿Por qué no te callas?¿Por qué no te callas?¿Por qué no te callas? is a phrase that was uttered by King Juan Carlos I of Spain to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, at the 2007 Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chávez was interrupting Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's speech...
, response given by King Juan Carlos IJuan Carlos I of SpainJuan Carlos I |Italy]]) is the reigning King of Spain.On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated king according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. Spain had no monarch for 38 years in 1969 when Franco named Juan Carlos as the...
of SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to Hugo ChávezHugo ChávezHugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, president of VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, at the 2007 Ibero-American SummitIbero-American SummitThe Ibero-American Summit , is a yearly meeting of the heads of government and state of the Spanish-...
(Santiago, Chile) - ROKS Cheonan sinkingROKS Cheonan sinkingThe ROKS Cheonan sinking occurred on 26 March 2010, when the Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship carrying 104 personnel, sank off the country's west coast near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 seamen...
- Gaza flotilla raidGaza flotilla raidThe Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
- 2010 Israel–Lebanon border clash2010 Israel–Lebanon border clashThe 2010 Israel–Lebanon border clash occurred on August 3, 2010, between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Israel Defense Forces , after an IDF team attempted to cut down a tree on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, near the Israeli kibbutz of Misgav Am and the Lebanese village of Adaisseh...
- On-air remarks by New Zealand broadcaster Paul Henry in 2010
- Shelling of Yeonpyeong