Offensive Lawfare

Abstract

Lawfare is defined in various ways, but it is essentially a way to describe legal activities within the context of armed conflict. The Army s operational concept provides a framework within which to conceptualize offensive lawfare which, in the current global counter-insurgency conflict, should be understood to include efforts to deny enemy forces sanctuary, to blunt their abuse of courts, and to use both foreign and domestic courts to better support our national security strategy. Policy discussions to improve our offensive lawfare posture should include providing support to litigants in certain domestic and foreign court actions that are deemed to be congruous with these ends. More specifically, policy discussions should consider providing support to plaintiffs in terrorism related domestic civil litigation, to certain defendants in certain foreign criminal actions, to defendants in foreign civil litigation that is deemed to be related to the current conflict and to plaintiffs pursuing foreign causes of action against terrorist organizations and their supporters.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 10, 2011
Accession Number
ADA553048

Entities

People

  • Mark W. Holzer

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Criminals
  • Education
  • Government Employees
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Litigation
  • National Security
  • President (United States)
  • Security
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States Government
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Occupational Health and Safety.