Updating the Commander's Toolbox: New Tools for Operationalizing the Laws of Armed Conflict
Abstract
Gone are the days of soldiers facing off across large battlefields, tanks shelling tanks, and fighter jets engaging in dogfights. Armed conflict now takes place everywhere--in cities, refugee camps, and other historically nonmilitary areas--and involves or impacts nearly everyone in the area. The law of armed conflict (LOAC)--codified in times of more traditional state-state conflicts--must now adapt to these new and infinitely more complicated conflicts, which we call new warfare. More important, we need to recategorize the ever-expanding variety of individuals who now participate in and are affected by hostilities, posing great challenges to the implementation of LOAC on the ground. LOAC, otherwise known as the laws of war or international humanitarian law (IHL), governs the conduct of states and individuals during armed conflict and seeks to minimize suffering in war by protecting persons not participating in hostilities and restricting the means and methods of warfare. We will use the term LOAC because it is favored by militaries--the key players here--and when referring to IHL, we will do so interchangeably with LOAC. New warfare poses extraordinary dilemmas for the application of two key principles. The principle of distinction requires soldiers to differentiate between people they can target and people they are obligated to protect. The principle of proportionality requires soldiers not to attack a target if the expected innocent casualties are excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage. The essence of new warfare is that states engage with nonstate actors. In traditional conflicts between states, pitting soldier against soldier, the categories were clear; in what we call new warfare, however, the categories are --at best--blurred.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA521812
Entities
People
- Amos N. Guiora
- Laurie R. Blank
- S. J. Quinney
Organizations
- National Defense University