Is a blockade of a port an act of war?

[Duckhunter935]

Just curious what the feelings are on this

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	Yes it is
	9 (100%)
	No it is not
	0 (0%)
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[fadedrose]

1. It's a warning

often employed to prevent all-out war . . .

[NYC_SKP]

2. Voted "no" because I believe it depends on the conditions, the details.

If said blockade merely impedes the target's economy, it might not be so bad.

If that blockade, instead, begins to cause suffering and strife and death, then it crosses the line and may become an act of war.

Done well, it can be a warning.

NB, it also depends upon whom is asked the questions; the blockader or the blockadee!

[DireStrike]

4. Impeding an economy can be part of a starvation tactic to soften a target for war

and has been in the past. It's about as close as you can get without actually declaring war, imo.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Please see line #2 of my reply. nt

[DireStrike]

8. "suffering and strife" are ill defined terms.

Pretty much any blockade is going to cause suffering and strife for somebody, and every problem is a headache for the rulers of the blockaded nation's government, and an impediment to them being able to raise or maintain military forces. It is undoubtedly a very threatening act.

[Scootaloo]

13. No, it is literally an act of war.

[NYC_SKP]

16. Loose the Hounds, then!

I don't know, I'm a pacifist.

"Act of War" suggests to me "defend at any cost" which I think describes the history of human failure.

[Scootaloo]

21. Well, just making hte point, it's a term with a legal definition

And blockading a port does fall within that definition.

[NYC_SKP]

22. We agree!

We usually do!

[atreides1]

3. Yes it is.

blockade, an act of war by which a belligerent prevents access to or departure from a defined part of the enemy’s coasts.

Blockades are regulated by international customary law and by international treaty law. A blockade must be declared in advance by notification of all neutral powers, and it must be applied impartially against ships of all states. Mere declarations of a blockade or “paper blockades,” common in the 18th and early 19th centuries, have no legal effect; the blockading state must make the blockade effective by maintaining naval or air forces in the area in sufficient strength to prevent ingress or egress from the enemy’s ports. Once the blockade ceases to be effectively maintained, the legal state of blockade lapses and can only be reestablished by due notification and enforcement.

Penalties for breach of blockade are seizure of ship and cargo and their possible condemnation as lawful prize. Neutral ships may not be destroyed for blockade running.

The law of blockade, in common with other laws of war, has evolved historically to meet the needs of major powers. The development of submarines and aircraft, in particular, made it impossible to station blockading warships in constant positions off an enemy’s coasts to maintain close blockades, and it has subsequently been accepted that long-range blockades (maintained by naval forces out of sight of the enemy’s coast) are legal if they effectively prevent ingress and egress.

There is little legal authority, however, by which the meaning of “effective blockade” may be precisely defined under conditions of modern naval warfare. There is authority for the view that risk of seizure for ships running the blockade must be substantial, entailing the presence of patrolling ships

[AngryAmish]

6. Yes it is.

Any nation this happens to is fully within their rights to issue letters marque.

[Kaleva]

7. If a nation moves forces into the territorial waters of another to blockade the port...

that may be considered an act of war.

To the best of my knowledge, no U.S. naval forces entered Cuban waters when President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of that nation back in 1962.

[William769]

9. Is this in reference to Calais?

[Kaleva]

10. The erectile dysfunction medication?

How ED and blockading a port is connected is beyond me.

[William769]

11. ...

[AngryAmish]

12. I am keeping an eye on you.

[leftstreet]

15. ...

[NuclearDem]

18. Oh YOU

[Duckhunter935]

14. no, this

Russia has deliberately sunk three of its own ships to block Ukrainian navy vessels into a lake off the Black Sea, officers say, highlighting Moscow’s determination to wear down the morale of Kiev’s forces in Crimea.The Ochakov — a Soviet-era warship decommissioned in 2011 and set to be sold for scrap — was towed to the entrance to Lake Donuzlav on Crimea’s western coast from the Russian base at Sevastopol on Thursday and blown up.

It capsized and, along with two smaller Russian vessels, is now blocking the narrow gap between two spits of land, its hull beaten by rough Black Sea waves.
http://cmsimg.defensenews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M5&Date=20140309&Category=DEFREG01&ArtNo=303090010&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Blocked-By-Sunken-Russian-Ships-Ukraine-s-Navy-Stays-Defiant

[William769]

17. Thanks. I should have guessed some more shit that Russia is pulling.

For some reason I thought you might be talking about this. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/04/migrants-calais-desperate-attempts-reach-britain

Yes, I'm having that type of day.

[Duckhunter935]

19. Your day will get better

I am sure of it

[NYC_SKP]

20. Thank you for the context.

I stand by my no answer, of course: that it is contextual.

Acts of War can be subtle or can be overt, but often it's a matter of terminology and international law.

I don't know, this may well technically be an act of war, but I wouldn't be too quick to act or react on it as an act of war.

[longship]

23. JFK and his advisors thought so.

That is why they called the Cuban blockade in October, 1962 a quarantine.

But after his speech to the world on October 22, 1962, nobody in the world had any delusions that it was anything other than a line in the sand which if anybody crossed it could mean nuclear war.
http://m.

Thankfully, JFK kept the warmongers at bay and kept the peace.

As a baby boomer in my early teens I remember how scary this was.

A fairly good recounting:
Thirteen Days (if one forgives Kevin Costner his horrible Boston accent and the lame back story -- why does Hollywood always do that?)