Handbook

The ethics of armed conflict has a deep foundation in the Just War tradition, which has developed out of centuries of experience of conflict between states. The contemporary conflict environment is, however, dominated by conflicts between states and non-state actors, a fact that significantly challenges the applicability of the well-developed concepts of the Just War tradition. States are making increasing use of special operations forces to carry out 'grey zone' missions which raise new ethical challenges, and those same special operations forces find themselves fighting alongside and enabling irregular and non-state forces which employ a mode of warfare that is distinctly unconventional. This course explores the ethical challenges raised by contemporary special operations and irregular forms of conflict including guerrilla warfare, hybrid warfare and terrorism.