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.
Assassination in the Law of War
Few lawyers better appreciated the importance of terminological precision than my late friend and law of war colleague, Hays Parks. Over three decades ago, he turned his attention to assassination. This post builds on his work by elaborating on the precise meaning of...
Special Operations Forces Wear of Non-standard Uniforms
There has been perhaps no one in the DoD legal community who has made a greater contribution to the advancement of the law of war than Col.(ret.) W. Hays Parks, USMC—and nowhere was his contribution greater than within the Special Operations community. His work on...
Hays Parks and U.S. Views on Targeting Law
Three decades after its publication, Colonel W. Hays Parks’s article Air War and the Law of War remains a key resource for attorneys who advise on targeting operations. The article is noteworthy for its deep exploration of the history of the law of war as well as its...
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Volume 6
Volume 5
