The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War / Edition 2

by Gary D. Solis

Overview

Newly revised and expanded, The Law of Armed Conflict, 2nd edition introduces law students and undergraduates to the law of war in an age of terrorism. What law of armed conflict (LOAC), or its civilian counterpart, international humanitarian law (IHL), applies in a particular armed conflict? Are terrorists legally bound by that law? What constitutes a war crime? What (or who) is a lawful target and how are targeting decisions made? What are 'rules of engagement' and who formulates them? How can an autonomous weapon system be bound by the law of armed conflict? Why were the Guantánamo military commissions a failure? This book takes students through these LOACIHL questions and more, employing real-world examples and legal opinions from the US and abroad. From Nuremberg to 9/11, from courts-martial to the US Supreme Court, from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first, the law of war is explained, interpreted, and applied.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107135604
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/18/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	864
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 10.28(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Gary D. Solis is a retired professor of law of the United States Military Academy, where he taught the law of armed conflict and directed West Point's law of war program for six years. He was a 2007 Library of Congress scholar in residence. He is a retired US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, having twice served in Vietnam, where he was a company commander. He holds law degrees from the University of California, Davis and George Washington University, Washington DC. He has a doctorate in the law of war from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a member of the American Law Institute and teaches the law of war at Georgetown University Law Center. His books include Marines and Military Law in Vietnam (1989) and Son Thang: An American War Crime (1997).

Table of Contents

Foreword; Preface; Part I. Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War: 1. Rules of war, laws of war; 2. Codes, conventions, declarations, and regulations; 3. Two World Wars and their law of armed conflict results; 4. Protocols and politics; Part II. Law of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law: A Framework: 5. Conflict status; 6. Individual battlefield status; 7. Law of armed conflict's four core principles; 8. What is a 'war crime'?; Part III. Law of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law: Battlefield Issues: 9. Obedience to orders, the first defense; 10. Command responsibility and respondeat superior; 11. Ruses and perfidy; 12. Rules of engagement; 13. Targeting objects; 14. Autonomous weapons, drones, and targeted killing; 15. Human targeting and cross-border counter-attacks; 16. Torture; 17. Cyberwarfare; 18. Attacks on cultural property; 19. The 1980 certain conventional weapons convention; 20. Gas, biological, and chemical weapons treaties; Part IV. Dealing with Violations of Customs and Usages of Warfare: 21. Military commissions; 22. Security detention.

Editorial Reviews

‘… the book deserves to reach a wide audience. Anyone interested in the legal aspects of how war is fought today should have this fine book on their bookshelf. The newly revised and updated third edition of this book is a masterpiece of scholarship, if for no other reason than that it focuses on the law of war conundrums that have arisen after and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. No other text takes a comprehensive look at ‘artificial intelligence’ in weapons and the law involved, the lawfulness of cross-border attacks when in the pursuit of terrorists, and the controversial lawfulness of “security detention” after the end of hostilities. While principally designed as a textbook for a law of war course, its clarity and compelling use of historical and contemporary examples make The Law of Armed Conflict an invaluable reference for military historians, journalists, practitioners, and the public generally.’ Fred L. Borch III, The Journal of Military History

From the Publisher