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.
Whose Decision Was It? Drone Swarms and the Accountability Gap in Ukraine
On June 1, 2025, Ukraine launched roughly 100 small drones at Russian airbases spread across several time zones. The platforms had been smuggled close to their targets in wooden containers, then released to strike together. The operation, known as Operation Spider's...
Lieber Studies Indo-Pacific Volume – LOAC and Information Warfare in the Indo-Pacific
On December 7, 2026, world leaders will gather in Jordan for the High-Level Conference on Humanity in War, the culmination of the Global Initiative launched in September 2024 to galvanize political commitment to the law of armed conflict (LOAC). Among the initiative’s...
Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello Targeting
There is a growing tendency to devise a double targeting criterion for attacks: one for jus ad bellum (JAB); and one for jus in bello (JIB), and to require that the conditions for each are met so that an attack or other belligerent action with similar results can be...
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Volume 13
Volume 12
Volume 11
