This is the first of three chapters that set out the differing contexts through which the dilemma in the laws of war over the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants can be viewed: political and diplomatic (this chapter), social (Chapter 2) and intellectual (Chapter 3). The narrative begins by summarizing the diplomatic history of the conferences at Brussels in 1874, at the Hague in 1899 and 1907, and at Geneva in 1949. While the negotiations of the laws of war proved successful in many respects, they consistently failed to agree on a common legal understanding of a lawful combatant.
Keywords: Brussels Conference, diplomatic history, Geneva Peace Conferences, Hague Peace Conferences, history, lawful combatants, laws of war, legal controversy, unlawful combatants, wars