Rules of War

Instructor: Dr. Charli Carpenter
Office: WWPH 3805
Office Hours: Tuesday 10-12
Phone: 412-648-8284
Email: charli.carpenter@gmail.com

"Attached to force are certain self-imposed, imperceptible limitations hardly worth mentioning, known as international law and custom, but they scarcely weaken it." - Carl von Clausewitz, On War

"Even wars have limits." - International Committee of the Red Cross

 
Required Coursebooks:

Course Description:

This course evaluates the role of international ethical norms in regulating the practice of organized political violence. We will begin by considering different approaches for systematically studying the effects of ethical norms on international policy-making. We next consider the origins and evolving dynamics of the laws of war, explore why political actors so often violate these rules and the conditions under which they follow them, and examine the political and ethical dilemmas involved in enforcing them. Specific topics covered include weapons bans, terrorism, humanitarian intervention, protection of noncombatants, and international criminal tribunals. The course will conclude with an assessment of continuity and change in global security norms post 9/11.

Syllabus: "Rules of War Spring 2008"

Online Course Documents:

Thucydides, "Melian Dialogue"

ICRC, "Roots of Behavior In War"

Lindsay, "Women and War: An Overview"

Johnson, "Shoot to Not Kill"

Evans, "Banishing the Rwandan Nightmare"

IHL In Brief: Answers to Your Questions

Charter of the United Nations

Roth, "Law of War and War on Terror"

Wedgwood, "Combatants or Criminals?"

Bellamy, "No Pain, No Gain?"

Foot, "Torture"

Kellogg, "Jus Post Bellum?"
 

Powerpoint Presentations:

Introduction

Rules of War - Overview

The Geneva/Hague Regime

Civilian Immunity

POW Status and Treatment

Weapons Bans / Means and Methods

Lt. Col. Marttala: USAF ROE

Preventing Violations: Intervention

State Compliance

Influencing Weapons-Bearers

Punishing Rule-Breakers

Key Info Sources:

Governments, IOs, & NGOs

International Committee of the Red Cross
United Nations
International Criminal Court
US Department of Defense
International Law Commission
Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Human Rights Watch
Medecins Sans Frontierres
Amnesty International
Responsibility to Protect Project
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
World Organization Against Torture
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
War Crimes Prosecution Watch
USAF Military Law Links

Think-Tanks and News Sources

International Institute of Humanitarian Law
Geneva Humanitarian Forum
Council on Foreign Relations
International Crisis Group
Human Security Centre
Crimes of War Project
Center for International Policy
UN OCHA Integrated Regional Information Network
Humanitarian Policy Group
International Council on Human Rights Policy
AlertNet
Yale Law School Database
Case School of Law War Crimes Site
Stockholm Institute for Peace Research
Humanitarian Info


Blogs

"I Blog For Peace"
Kenneth Anderson
Law of War
War Crimes
The Human Level
Elected Swineherd
Grotian Moment
Just War Theory
Making Sense of Darfur
Disarmament Insight

Journals

International Security
Ethics and International Affairs
International Review of the Red Cross
Journal of Peace Research
Security Dialogue
Cooperation and Conflict

 

Student Blogroll:

Poox2000
Wandering Crabb
Creecos Catastrophe
JKL Rules of War
Angel King
Piero Mannino
Jus My Thoughts
RoW Blogger
Wules of Rar
Guarded Ivory Tower
Guide to Modern Warfare
Peace Turkey
Becky's Rules of War Blog
What Would Clausewitz Do?
B2Bomber
UNOVIS
PittRulesofWarStudent

Other Helpful Documents

Army Field Manual (2006)

Bybee Memo

Selected  Papers

"Reducing Collateral Damage Through Foreign Military Sales of Precision-Guided Munitions"

"Reviving Geneva"