While there is likely to be general agreement among States that the consequences of an actual employment of a #nuclearweapon are likely to be dire, there is a fundamental dichotomy of views as to the lawfulness of possessing them, explains William Boothby. lieber.westpoint.edu/nuclear-weap...

China has held to a clear line when it comes to #LAWS: such systems must stay under Meaningful Human Control #MHC if they are to meet #IHL standards. Gerald Mako explores in his post the Chinese approach to lethal autonomous weapons systems and IHL. lieber.westpoint.edu/human-oversi...

The Canadian Handbook on International Humanitarian Law makes visible a Canadian approach to #IHL that has remained largely dispersed, inaccessible, and unarticulated, explain Christopher Waters, Steve Tiwa Fomekong and Catherine Gribbin. lieber.westpoint.edu/putting-cana...

El Mencho’s killing is a stress test for the #Mexico–#cartel #NIAC debate, illustrating why classification cannot turn on labels or a single spectacular raid, but must rest on sustained intensity and organization, argue Chiara Redaelli and Carlos Arévalo. lieber.westpoint.edu/when-cartels...

Aggregate civilian–combatant ratios can serve important analytical and humanitarian purposes. However, their evidentiary limits are clear, argues Oded Hen. lieber.westpoint.edu/what-aggrega...

In an era of accelerating change and contested norms, the international law of military operations stands at a crossroads, argue @paulducheine.bsky.social, Terry Gill, Peter Pijpers, and Marten Zwanenburg. lieber.westpoint.edu/evolving-arc...

Armenia has undertaken one of the most consequential military modernization programs in its post-independence history. Davit Khachatryan explores whether Armenia has complied with its obligation, under AP I, to review these weapons before acquiring them. lieber.westpoint.edu/armenias-mil...

The notion of #levéeenmasse is a unique category in IHL. Elliot Winter outlines the policy and legal arguments in favour of recognising non-resident citizens as legitimate participants in levées en masse. lieber.westpoint.edu/regulation-l...

The legal technique of using general principles of law to fill gaps by analogizing relevant municipal law plays a certain role in the LOAC, albeit a limited one, explains Robert Kolb. lieber.westpoint.edu/role-municip...

During the 2026 Munich Security Conference, several States made a joint statement concerning the death of #AlexeiNavalny. In this statement, these States made clear that the poisoning was a violation of the #BTWC, as well as #CWC. lieber.westpoint.edu/alleged-pois...

As #algorithms begin to make decisions that determine who lives and who dies on the battlefield, the rise of #AI-driven autonomous weapon systems (AWS) is forcing a re-examination of some of the most basic principles of #IHL, explains Gerald Mako. lieber.westpoint.edu/legal-accoun...

Cyber operations against water infrastructure are not legally low-impact just because they are digital or, for now, short-lived, argue Szymon Skalski and Natosha Hoduski. lieber.westpoint.edu/when-red-lin...

Can an occupying power conclude treaties relating to the occupied territory? Can it do so solely in its own name or also in the name of the State whose territory is occupied? No clear answer yet exists for these questions, argues Robert Kolb. lieber.westpoint.edu/occupying-po...

Szymon Skalski and Natosha Hoduski examine in their post when #cyber operations against water infrastructure may qualify as #attacks under #LOAC. lieber.westpoint.edu/when-red-lin...

Few contemporary conflicts have been as saturated with landmines as the one between #Armenia & #Azerbaijan. Davit Khachatryan discusses the continuing effects of mines on civilians & obligations of States exercising effective control over territory. lieber.westpoint.edu/anti-personn...

The Laws of Yesterday’s Wars Symposium reinforces a central understanding: modern humanitarianism is part of a much older human project, explains Samuel White. lieber.westpoint.edu/laws-yesterd...

Africa’s diverse societies have long maintained complex systems of customary law governing conflict, reconciliation & the restoration of communal harmony. Tamalin Bolus & Sarah Jean Mabeza explore the links between law & culture. lieber.westpoint.edu/african-trad...

Harmen van der Wilt and Lachezar Yanev explore in their post universal jurisdiction, prosecuting war crimes, and the role domestic courts and criminal enforcement can play in addressing violations of IHL. lieber.westpoint.edu/pushing-boun...

Although there is growing interest in providing military animals with greater protection in wartime, the lex lata of armed conflict regards animals as objects and property, explains Ronald Alcala. lieber.westpoint.edu/military-ani...

Long before formal statehood, Somali society developed a detailed and durable system for regulating violence constructed on customary law, collective responsibility, and oral authority rather than codification, explains Ayan Ali. lieber.westpoint.edu/somali-tradi...

The transition from the classical “law of war” to the modern “IHL” represents more than a linguistic evolution; it signifies a profound shift in the conceptualization of warfare, moving from a State-centric model to a person-centric model, argues Emily Crawford. lieber.westpoint.edu/terminologic...

The Torah’s enduring relevance lies not in its replication within modern law, but in its demonstration that the impulse to limit violence is ancient, cross‑cultural, and deeply embedded in human societies, argues Norman Solomon. lieber.westpoint.edu/jewish-ethic...

Hittites created one of the earliest durable systems of regulated warfare. Their treaties, laws, and ritual obligations demonstrate that humanitarian norms emerged independently across multiple civilisations, argues @rorycox.bsky.social . lieber.westpoint.edu/hittite-laws...

Today’s era of rapid scientific breakthroughs, potential dual-use technologies, and shifting geopolitical landscapes calls for strengthening the #BWC to allow it to effectively respond to current challenges, argues Barry de Vries. lieber.westpoint.edu/biological-w...

Laws of Yesterday’s Wars Vol 4: From Mesopotamia to Somalia draws together 6 chapters spanning the ancient Near East & sub-Saharan Africa. As Sam White explains, the result is a collection that speaks to lived experience of communities & doctrines they produced. lieber.westpoint.edu/laws-of-yest...

For #AWS the central issue is not whether IHL “applies". The question is whether States will do what arms control has required before: set durable, weapon-specific constraints before battlefield practice hardens into a new baseline, argues Natalie Nunn. lieber.westpoint.edu/how-lessons-...

How does international law conceptualize mass #deprivation? In the ICJ’s 2025 AO on Israel’s obligations in the OPT, Tamar Luster argues that reliance on extreme factual indicators turns an early-warning standard into a post-catastrophe label. lieber.westpoint.edu/mass-depriva...

The ICJ’s recent jurisprudence has ushered in a new dual régime of #occupation: Hague Occupation, for “on-the-spot” control; and Geneva Occupation, for “activities” control. Robert Kolb explains how each one of these limbs complements the other. lieber.westpoint.edu/evolving-bel...

Ronald Alcala discusses the concept of #outlawry in armed conflict & examines whether Russian & Ukrainian rewards programs that offer monetary & other incentives for the killing of enemy soldiers are a form of prohibited outlawry under international law. lieber.westpoint.edu/gamifying-wa...

At the heart of the debate over whether #jusinbello and #jusadbellum should be kept absolutely separate is the underlying question of #LOAC’s role vis-à-vis a sovereign’s duty, argues Thomas Wheatley. lieber.westpoint.edu/moral-disord...

Although the 1907 #HagueRegulations represented the first reasonably general codification of the law of war in modern times, they left multiple questions unresolved. In his post, Robert Kolb analyzes the lexical imperfections of the Hague Regulations. lieber.westpoint.edu/lexical-impe...

Sabotage, while legally ill-defined, remains a feature of #armedconflict in the 21st century. Kenneth Watkin argues that #sabotage requires a sufficiently broad definition that reflects the complexity of such operations. lieber.westpoint.edu/intelligence...

Does the law of neutrality apply when a situation of #occupation arises? Benjamin Meret addresses the threshold for application of neutrality, categorizes a range of situations involving belligerent occupation & assesses whether neutrality applies to each. lieber.westpoint.edu/law-neutrali...

Recently, a workshop organized by Army Cyber Institute and the Netherlands Defense Academy highlighted rapid developments in #AI-enabled #cyberattacks and examined the challenges they pose to the application of international legal obligations in armed conflicts. lieber.westpoint.edu/impact-ai-en...

Within every system of law there are open & closed legal sub-systems. In the context of #war, we find both systems, pitching the #jusadbellum against the #jusinbello with differing rules concerning freedom of action, argues Robert Kolb. lieber.westpoint.edu/open-closed-...

In 2026, States will continue to affirm that IHL applies to #cyberops conducted during #armedconflict. Yet its practical influence on State behavior is likely to be limited as cyber ops become more strategic & more deeply integrated with AI, argues Jeffrey Biller lieber.westpoint.edu/law-of-cyber...

It is a well-observed truism that despite early decades of human rights jurisprudence from the #ECtHR addressing ongoing #armedconflicts, the Court has studiously avoided opining on the interface of #humanrights and #IHL. lieber.westpoint.edu/early-interf...

Data poisoning will continue to occur in peace & in war. During #armedconflict, #IHL regulates its effects. But the decisive legal challenge lies earlier, argues Sam White. lieber.westpoint.edu/poisoned-wel...

#Reciprocity can signify recognition; the basic acknowledgement that an adversary is a moral and legal subject capable of #restraint and that mutual commitment sustains the legitimacy of law, argues Bryan Peeler. lieber.westpoint.edu/reciprocity-...

As States begin to regard #outerspace as a war-fighting domain, #Japan has followed suit. Takahiro Abe focuses in his post on Japanese approach to space regulations and examines the meaning of bilateral and multi-lateral defense of outer space. lieber.westpoint.edu/japanese-per...

2025 brought a stress-testing of #LOAC & the int. community. It was a sustained inquiry into whether the laws of war can meaningfully constrain violence in an age of strategic competition, technological acceleration & protracted conflict & if so, how. lieber.westpoint.edu/year-in-revi...

Robert Kolb analyzes in his post the doctrine of #doublequalification and concludes that it is neither necessary nor balanced. It does not address a dangerous gap in international humanitarian law. lieber.westpoint.edu/double-quali...

The U.S. Air Force’s & Anduril’s ambitious wingman program, Fury, has already lifted off. Davit Khachatryan analyzes the possibility that attritable autonomous wingmen could support more rigorous precautionary practice. lieber.westpoint.edu/clarity-cons...

As we approach the end of 2025, Articles of War will be welcoming several exciting changes to our editorial board. Please join us in congratulating Prof. Jennifer Maddocks on her new appointment. lieber.westpoint.edu/articles-of-...

It is often claimed that #IHL is in its greatest part #peremptory, or at least a type of regulation akin to #juscogens and protected in the same way as peremptory law. Robert Kolb critically reviews the arguments advanced to buttress this position. lieber.westpoint.edu/internationa...

The final part of Sean Watts’s post recounts an often-forgotten episode in the history of post-conflict #POW #repatriation and offers concluding thoughts on efforts to further refine and harmonize views on this critical law of war protective regime. lieber.westpoint.edu/prisoner-war...

A challenging situation attaches to the question of #involuntary post-war repatriations of prisoners of war. In Part II of his post, Sean Watts addresses the difficult and close question of involuntary #repatriation of #POWs. lieber.westpoint.edu/prisoner-war...

POW #repatriations have long been contentious post-war affairs. Sean Watts explores the law of war applicable to post-conflict #POW repatriation. The first post outlines the legal framework & explores reciprocity as a fault line behind many repatriation disputes. lieber.westpoint.edu/prisoner-war...

Legal reviews of #AI systems pose significant legal & practical challenges due to their technical & operational features. Tobias Vestner & Nicolo Borgesano explore how insights from legal reviews of #cyberweapons can inform those of AI systems/AI-enabled weapons. lieber.westpoint.edu/legal-review...

This past September, the 4th Annual Symposium on Cyber & International Law took place. Emily Bobenrieth provides an overview of a panel discussion, which explored whether #AI-enabled cyber ops in armed conflict present uncertainty in application of #LOAC. lieber.westpoint.edu/gaps-seams-l...