Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

A Toolbox for the Application of the Rules of Targeting

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Tanya Krupiy

Downloads

Full text is not currently available for this publication.


Abstract

How military commanders interpret the rules of targeting impacts not only on whether civilians and civilian objects are harmed in the course of a military operation, but also on the scale of harm that ensues. Commentators have queried whether military commanders observed the law even when parties to a conflict acted in accordance with mandates to protect civilians, as was the case when a coalition of states bombed targets in Libya in 2011. However, limited guidance is publicly available on how military commanders apply these rules on the battlefield. In order to allow military commanders to exercise judgment in determining what steps they are required to take to spare civilians in a specific set of circumstances, the rules of targeting are formulated in an open-ended fashion, which complicates one’s ability to evaluate whether a particular military operation complies with the law. By examining case studies ranging from Operation Desert Storm in 1991 to Operation Protective Edge in 2014, this book addresses lacunae in current scholarship. It puts forward principles which capture how military commanders deliberate while interpreting what the rules of targeting require in particular scenarios. International humanitarian law, this book contends, places a duty on attackers to assume risk in order to mitigate danger to civilians. Drawing on the field of psychology, this study provides an explanation of how military commanders assess when circumstances do not permit them to inform civilians about a forthcoming attack.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Krupiy T

Publication type: Authored Book

Publication status: Published

Year: 2016

Number of Pages: 461

Print publication date: 18/03/2016

Acceptance date: 01/12/2014

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Place Published: Newcastle Upon Tyne

URL: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-4438-8709-0

Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item

ISBN: 9781443887090


Share