Wars of Law

by Tanisha M. Fazal

ISBN: 9781501719813

Published: 2018

In Wars of Law, Tanisha M. Fazal assesses the unintended consequences of the proliferation of the laws of war for the commencement, conduct, and conclusion of wars over the course of the past one hundred fifty years. After a brief history of the codification of international humanitarian law (IHL), Fazal outlines three main arguments: early laws of war favored belligerents but more recent additions have constrained them; this shift may be attributable to a growing divide between lawmakers and those who must comply with IHL; and lawmakers have been consistently inattentive to how rebel groups might receive these laws. By using the laws of war strategically, Fazal suggests, belligerents in both interstate and civil wars relate those laws to their big-picture goals. In Wars of Law, we learn that, as codified IHL proliferates and changes in character--with an ever-greater focus on protected persons--states fighting interstate wars become increasingly reluctant to step over any bright...