Challenging Common Assumptions About Civilian Protection in Large-Scale Combat Operations

Challenging Common Assumptions About Civilian Protection in Large-Scale Combat Operations

by | Mar 31, 2026 | AoW Posts, Blog, Law of Armed Conflict

Challenging Common Assumptions About Civilian Protection in Large-Scale Combat Operations Preparations for large-scale combat operations (LSCOs) by the U.S. military and other NATO militaries have led to a debate—no doubt familiar to Articles of War readers—about...
Nuclear Weapons Part I – Opposing Perspectives

Nuclear Weapons Part I – Opposing Perspectives

by | Mar 30, 2026 | AoW Posts, Blog, Weapons Law

Nuclear Weapons Part I – Opposing Perspectives Editors’ note: This is the first of a four-part post on legal considerations applicable to nuclear weapons. This post will explore the fundamental differences of view on nuclear weapons and their implications. But...
Human Oversight with Chinese Characteristics: Lethal Autonomous Weapons in the CCW GGE

Human Oversight with Chinese Characteristics: Lethal Autonomous Weapons in the CCW GGE

by | Mar 27, 2026 | AI, AoW Posts, Blog, Emerging Technologies

Human Oversight with Chinese Characteristics: Lethal Autonomous Weapons in the CCW GGE Editors’ note: This is the second post in a series dedicated to Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) and the questions of human oversight and legal accountability under...
Putting the Canadian in IHL: The Canadian Handbook on International Humanitarian Law

Putting the Canadian in IHL: The Canadian Handbook on International Humanitarian Law

by , , | Mar 25, 2026 | AoW Posts, Blog, Interpretation & Development, Law of Armed Conflict

Putting the Canadian in IHL: The Canadian Handbook on International Humanitarian Law The International Committee of the Red Cross observes that “[t]he rules of war are universal.” Few would dispute that as a general statement, particularly considering the universal...
When Cartels Fight Back: El Mencho and the NIAC Question in Mexico

When Cartels Fight Back: El Mencho and the NIAC Question in Mexico

by , | Mar 23, 2026 | AoW Posts, Blog, Conflict Classification, Targeting

When Cartels Fight Back: El Mencho and the NIAC Question in Mexico On February 22, 2026, Mexican Army Special Forces launched a pre-dawn raid on a gated residential compound in Tapalpa, a mountainous municipality in the Western state of Jalisco. Their target was...
What Aggregate Civilian-Combatant Ratios Tell Us, And What They Don’t: A Case Study from the Gaza Conflict

What Aggregate Civilian-Combatant Ratios Tell Us, And What They Don’t: A Case Study from the Gaza Conflict

by | Mar 20, 2026 | AoW Posts, Blog, Law of Armed Conflict

What Aggregate Civilian-Combatant Ratios Tell Us, And What They Don’t: A Case Study from the Gaza Conflict Public debate about contemporary armed conflict increasingly relies on aggregate civilian-to-combatant casualty ratios as indicators of legality and moral...