Conflict Types
Large-Scale Combat Operations Symposium – Introduction
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this post are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the ICRC, HLS PILAC, or other workshop participants. Large-scale combat operations (LSCOs) involve widespread, devastating violence, usually on a vast scale. They...
Ukraine Symposium – Classification of the Conflict(s)
The threshold questions in any international humanitarian law (IHL) analysis are whether an armed conflict is underway as a matter of law and, if so, what type. They are determinative questions because the existence of an armed conflict is a condition precedent to...
The “General Close of Military Operations” and the End of Armed Conflicts
The temporal scope of applicability of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or Law of Armed Conflict (LoAC) – terms I use interchangeably in this post – has long been of personal scholarly interest. My academic work on the subject includes a book on the temporal scope...
Classification of Non-Consensual State Interventions against an OAG
Constant progress in weaponry and means of transportation increasingly enables belligerents to cross borders to fight their enemy. Although not a new reality, cross-border armed conflicts between one or several States and an organized armed group (OAG) surged after...
Ukraine Symposium – Are We at War?
Last week, allegations that the United States and a number of other NATO nations are providing intelligence to Ukraine that enables attacks against Russian forces continued to surface. Broadly speaking, the reports of intelligence sharing are credible. As Chairman of...
Reflections on the Law of Occupation: Afghanistan and Iraq
A recent New York Times article discussed, in part, the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, raising important, yet underexplored, questions about occupations under the law of armed conflict (LOAC). The article focuses primarily on the U.S. armed forces’ transition...
Afghanistan 2021: Reflections from the Stockton Center for International Law’s Workshop
Despite over twenty years of legal analysis, many issues regarding the Afghanistan conflict remain unsettled. At a recent Stockton Center for International Law law of armed conflict (LOAC) workshop, an experienced and diverse group of scholars and practitioners...
Reexamining the Law of War for Great Power Competition
The United States has shifted its national defense posture to focus on “the reemergence of long-term, strategic competition” with “revisionist powers”—namely China and Russia. The government is heavily engaged in framing the assumptions and expectations of what...
Whither Recognition of Belligerency?
Delineating, defining, and dealing with how the law of armed conflict applies to civil wars and other non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) has presented constant legal challenges over the last two decades. Numerous questions have arisen. What is the legal...