At the crossroads of scholarship and practice
The Lieber Institute at West Point facilitates and contributes to the global dialogue on today’s most pressing and complex law of war issues. Through its research, publications, events and education, it strives to advance the understanding and maintain the primacy of law in today’s armed conflicts.
The Lieber Institute seeks to bridge the divide between legal scholarship and battlefield experience in the study of the law. It engages in innovative research and collaboration on multiple topics of legal study including targeting, detention, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and war crimes accountability.
Researching Cutting-edge Issues.
Promoting Understanding.
Empowering Combat Leaders.
Sudan: The Case for Recognising All Conflict-Related Sexual Violence as Torture
Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is often framed as an unfortunate byproduct of war rather than as an intentional and strategic act of violence. However, a closer examination of CRSV in modern conflicts reveals it is not incidental. As a deliberate weapon...
Conflict Classification in Eastern DRC: IAC, NIAC, or Both?
Enveloped in a myriad of armed conflicts, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently witnessed a significant escalation of hostilities when the March 23 Movement (M23) seized the provincial capital Goma. The situation received particular scrutiny given the...
Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Land Mines: An Explainer
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has ignited discussions within and between NATO States concerning the international conventions that ban the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines, and require the destruction...
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