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.
War Reloaded: The Erosion of Norms and the Urgency of Prevention
After decades of cautious optimism about the global decline of warfare, recent trends paint a far more troubling picture. Civilians are increasingly caught in the crossfire, non-State armed groups and private military contractors proliferate, and new technologies are...
Israel’s Operation Rising Lion and the Right of Self-Defense
On Friday morning, June 13, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rising Lion, a major strike against Iranian nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile capability. The IDF also degraded Iran’s air defenses and targeted senior Iranian military leaders....
Asia’s Melian Moment
Prior to the siege of Melos, the Melians argued that they had the right to remain neutral when the Athenians demanded their surrender. The famous dialogue depicted by Thucydides in the History of the Peloponnesian War illustrates political realism in international...
Please check back soon for future events and programming.
