Terrorism and the Laws of Multidimensional Warfare
Terrorism and the Laws of Multidimensional Warfare
This chapter examines problems of international humanitarian law (IHL) that arise during conflicts with nonstate actors. It shows how the protections for civilians under IHL are exploited by insurgents and terrorists, thus compromising military operations. The chapter first provides an overview of the basic humanitarian principles underlying IHL, particularly those governing the conduct of military action in international and non-international armed conflicts. It then considers the problematic nature of the principle of proportionality and the distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants within the context of terrorism. It proposes a new international legal framework that it calls “multidimensional warfare,” which takes into account four categories of actors involved in warfare, each with a different status in the conflict: combatants, militia combatants, combat-supportive civilians, and civilians (non-involved civilians and civilians involved by force.
Keywords: international humanitarian law, civilians, insurgents, terrorists, proportionality, terrorism, multidimensional warfare, combatants, militia combatants, combat-supportive civilians
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