Editing Police action (section)

{{Short description|Military action undertaken without a declaration of war}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Drie Nederlandse militairen tijdens een actie. De brenschutter richt zijn wapen , Bestanddeelnr 5560.jpg|thumb|Dutch troops during [[Operation Kraai]], a 1948 police action of the [[Indonesian National Revolution]].]]

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]]".<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592318.2012.632859|doi = 10.1080/09592318.2012.632859|title = Between treaty and treason: Dutch collaboration with warlord Teuku Uma during the Aceh War, a case study on the collaboration with indigenous power-holders in colonial warfare|year = 2012|last1 = Kitzen|first1 = Martijn|journal = Small Wars & Insurgencies|volume = 23|pages = 93–116|s2cid = 143733376|access-date = 25 March 2020|archive-date = 2 December 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231202232930/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592318.2012.632859|url-status = live|url-access = subscription}}</ref><ref>Colonial Counterinsurgency and Mass Violence. The Dutch Empire in Indonesia, edited by Bart Luttikhuis and A. Dirk Moses</ref> 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 power]]s) 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 [[Nisero Incident|SS ''Nisero'']], who were held hostage in [[Sumatra]].<ref>{{cite web | title=SS Nisero| website=Wrecksite | url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?160714 | access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref> The Dutch term {{lang|nl|politionele acties}} ([[Police actions (Indonesia)|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.<ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TAnheeIPcAEC&q=a+localized+military+action+undertaken+without+formal+declaration+of+war+by+regular+armed+forces+against+persons+held+to+be+violators+of+international+peace+and+order&pg=PA959|title = Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Eleventh Edition|year = 2004|isbn = 9780877798095|author1 = Merriam-Webster|publisher = Merriam-Webster|access-date = 3 November 2020|archive-date = 2 December 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231202232930/https://books.google.com/books?id=TAnheeIPcAEC&q=a+localized+military+action+undertaken+without+formal+declaration+of+war+by+regular+armed+forces+against+persons+held+to+be+violators+of+international+peace+and+order&pg=PA959|url-status = live}}</ref> It was also used to imply a formal claim of sovereignty by [[Colonialism|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]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2015}}