International Law And The Changing Character Of War

International Law Studies Volume 87. Raul A. "Pete" Pedrozo and Daria P. Wollschlaeger, editors. Contains a compilation of scholarly papers and remarks derived from the proceedings of a conference hosted at the Naval War College on June 22-24, 2010 entitled "International Law and the Changing Character of War." The objectives of the conference were to catalogue the extent to whichh existing international law governs these changing aspects of warfare and to assess whether these developments warrant revision of existing international law.

Invaluable to students and those approaching the subject for the first time, An Introduction to International Relations, Second Edition provides a comprehensive and stimulating introduction to international relations, its traditions and its changing nature in an era of globalisation. Thoroughly revised and updated, it features chapters written by a range of experts from around the world. It presents a global perspective on the theories, history, developments and debates that shape this dynamic discipline and contemporary world politics. Now in full-colour and accompanied by a password-protected companion website featuring additional chapters and case studies, this is the indispensable guide to the study of international relations.

Over the last decade (and indeed ever since the Cold War), the rise of insurgents and non-state actors in war, and their readiness to use terror and other irregular methods of fighting, have led commentators to speak of 'new wars'. They have assumed that the 'old wars' were waged solely between states, and were accordingly fought between comparable and 'symmetrical' armed forces. Much of this commentary has lacked context or sophistication. It has been bounded by norms and theories more than the messiness of reality. Fed by the impact of the 9/11 attacks, it has privileged some wars and certain trends over others. Most obviously it has been historically unaware. But it has also failed to consider many of the other dimensions which help us to define what war is - legal, ethical, religious, and social. The Changing Character of War, the fruit of a five-year interdisciplinary programme at Oxford of the same name, draws together all these themes, in order to distinguish between what is really changing about war and what only seems to be changing. Self-evidently, as the product of its own times, the character of each war is always changing. But if war's character is in flux, its underlying nature contains its own internal consistency. Each war is an adversarial business, capable of generating its own dynamic, and therefore of spiralling in directions that are never totally predictable. War is both utilitarian, the tool of policy, and dysfunctional. This book brings together scholars with world-wide reputations, drawn from a clutch of different disciplines, but united by a common intellectual goal: that of understanding a problem of extraordinary importance for our times. This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT -OVERSTOCK SALE -- Significantly reduced list price Contains a compilation of scholarly papers and remarks derived from the proceedings of a conference hosted at the Naval War College on June 22-24, 2010 entitled "International Law and the Changing Character of War." The objectives of the conference were to catalogue the extent to whichh existing international law governs these changing aspects of warfare and to assess whether these developments warrant revision of existing international law. Related products: The United States Naval War College Fundamentals of War Gaming --Hardcover format can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-046-00269-0 -- Paperback format can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-046-00299-1 Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00431-3 Civilian Surge: Key to Complex Operations can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-020-01585-7 Operational Culture for the Warfighter: Principles and Applications can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01021-8 Applications in Operational Culture: Perspectives From the Field can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01054-4 Other products produced by the U.S. Naval War College can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/621"

This book comprises contributions by leading experts in the field of international humanitarian law on the subject of the categorisation or classification of armed conflict. It is divided into two sections: the first aims to provide the reader with a sound understanding of the legal questions surrounding the classification of hostilities and its consequences; the second includes ten case studies that examine practice in respect of classification. Understanding how classification operates in theory and practice is a precursor to identifying the relevant rules that govern parties to hostilities. With changing forms of armed conflict which may involve multi-national operations, transnational armed groups and organized criminal gangs, the need for clarity of the law is all-important. The case studies selected for analysis are Northern Ireland, DRC, Colombia, Afghanistan (from 2001), Gaza, South Ossetia, Iraq (from 2003), Lebanon (2006), the so-called war against Al-Qaeda, and future trends. The studies explore the legal consequences of classification particularly in respect of the use of force, detention in armed conflict, and the relationship between human rights law and international humanitarian law. The practice identified in the case studies allows the final chapter to draw conclusions as to the state of the law on classification.

Increasingly, war is and will be fought by machines – and virtual networks linking machines - which, to varying degrees, are controlled by humans. This book explores the legal challenges for armed forces resulting from the development and use of new military technologies – automated and autonomous weapon systems, cyber weapons, “non-lethal” weapons and advanced communications - for the conduct of warfare. The contributions, each written by scholars and military officers with expertise in International Humanitarian Law (IHL), provide analysis and recommendations for armed forces as to how these new technologies may be used in accordance with international law. Moreover, the chapters provide suggestions for military doctrine to ensure continued compliance with IHL during this ever-more-rapid evolution of technology.

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: 7,5, University of Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), course: International Humanitarian Law, language: English, abstract: At the beginning of the 21st century it seems that warfare and armed conflict get messier and more chaotic than ever before. The phenomenon of weak and fragile statehood destabilizes whole regions and makes intra-state conflict to a constant feature with spill-over character in many areas of the world. At the same time do non-state armed actors, from warlords to armed militias to terrorists to private military firms, re-enter the international conflictscene. The globalized character of contemporary organized violence, especially the phenomenon of transnational terrorism, does challenge the international security structure. While symmetric inter-state conflicts are constantly decreasing and less likely to appear, the dominant form of contemporary armed conflict is intra-state and asymmetric by nature. One of the most striking features within contemporary armed violence is the increasingly important role of civilians, as victims but also as perpetrators and participants in hostilities. The fundamental line between soldiers and civilians has long been essential to the law of war, but with the rise of transnational terrorism, warlords and other non-state actors in armed conflict this distinction gets seemingly blurred.

The Changing Character of War unites scholars from the disciplines of history, politics, law, and philosophy to ask in what ways the character of war today has changed from war in the past, and how the wars of today differ from each other. It discusses who fights, why they fight, and how they fight.