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.
Built Without a Battlefield: Challenges of a Cold Case War Crimes Prosecution
Australian authorities recently arrested Ben Roberts-Smith for war crimes including multiple unlawful killings of prisoners and non-combatants. Roberts-Smith, long regarded as one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers and a national celebrity, was previously awarded...
Nuclear Weapons Part III – What Is To Be Done?
Editors’ note: This is the third of a four-part post on legal considerations applicable to nuclear weapons. If the prospects for significant nuclear disarmament in 2026 or indeed in the foreseeable future do not appear to be particularly rosy, can anything be done to...
No New Rules Needed: Russia’s Minimalist Vision of Human Oversight for LAWS
With the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) having wrapped up its second session of 2025, and the Seventh Review Conference quickly approaching, Russia’s interventions in...
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Volume 9
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Volume 7
