The Evolution of Warfare Volume 97 Number 900 Winter 2015
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Volume 97 Number 900 Winter 2015 Humanitarian debate: Law, policy, action The evolution of warfare Volume 97 Number 900 Winter 2015 Humanitarian debate: Law, policy, action The evolution of warfare CONTENTS The evolution of warfare 959 Editorial: Tactics, techniques, tragedies: A humanitarian perspective on the changing face of war Vincent Bernard, Editor-in-chief 969 Interview with Richard Overy Professor at the University of Exeter A century of warfare 985 Opinion note: How warfare has evolved – ahumanitarianorganization’s perception: The case of the ICRC, 1863-1960 Daniel Palmieri 999 The South African War as humanitarian crisis Elizabeth van Heyningen 1029 The Great War: World war, total war Annette Becker 1047 Will the Trojan War take place? Violations of the rules of war and the Battle of the Dardanelles (1915) Emre Öktem and Alexandre Toumarkine 1065 Out of sight, out of reach: Moral issues in the globalization of the battlefield Eric Germain 1099 The ICRC in the First World War: Unwavering belief in the power of law? Lindsey Cameron 954 Volume 97 Number 900 Winter 2015 Articles published by the Review reflect the views of the author alone and not necessarily those of the ICRC or of the Review. Only texts bearing an ICRC signature may be ascribed to the institution. 1121 “A horrific photo of a drowned Syrian child”: Humanitarian photography and NGO media strategies in historical perspective Davide Rodogno and Heide Fehrenbach 1157 Opinion note: Technological change and the evolution of the law of war Rain Liivoja Challenges in modern wars 1179 The state of conflicts today: Can humanitarian action adapt? Claudia Mc Goldrick 1209 The updated Commentary on the First Geneva Convention – a new tool for generating respect for international humanitarian law Jean-Marie Henckaerts, Lindsey Cameron, Bruno Demeyere, Eve La Haye and Heike Niebergall-Lackner 1227 The ICRC’s legal position on the notion of armed conflict involving foreign intervention and on determining the IHL applicable to this type of conflict Tristan Ferraro 1253 Protecting the past for the future: How does law protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage in armed conflict? Christiane Johannot-Gradis 1277 The danger of “new norms” and the continuing relevance of IHL in the post- 9/11 era Anna Di Lellio and Emanuele Castano 955 Volume 97 Number 900 Winter 2015 Articles published by the Review reflect the views of the author alone and not necessarily those of the ICRC or of the Review. Only texts bearing an ICRC signature may be ascribed to the institution. 1295 Opinion note: Reconciling the rules of international humanitarian law with the rules of European human rights law Claire Landais and Léa Bass Looking into the future 1313 Factors shaping the legal implications of increasingly autonomous military systems Tim McFarland 1341 The future of warfare: Are we ready? Randolph Kent Reports and Documents Documents from the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 1380 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Interview with Balthasar Staehelin, Deputy Director-General of the ICRC 1389 Resolutions of the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Geneva, 8 – 10 December 2015 Other reports and documents 1427 International humanitarian law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts 956 Volume 97 Number 900 Winter 2015 Articles published by the Review reflect the views of the author alone and not necessarily those of the ICRC or of the Review. Only texts bearing an ICRC signature may be ascribed to the institution. Books and articles 1503 Military Self-Interest in Accountability for Core International Crimes Morten Bergsmo and Song Tianying (eds) Book review by William J. Fenrick 1507 Identifying the Enemy: Civilian Participation in Armed Conflict Emily Crawford Book review by Ellen Policinski 1513 New publications in humanitarian action and the law 957 International Review of the Red Cross (2015), 97 (900), 959–968. The evolution of warfare doi:10.1017/S1816383116000497 EDITORIAL TACTICS, TECHNIQUES, TRAGEDIES: A HUMANITARIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE CHANGING FACE OF WAR Vincent Bernard, Editor-in-Chief Armed conflict has been defined as “the logical outcome of an attempt of one group to protect or increase its political, social and economic welfare at the expense of another group”. There is no need to be an expert or a prophet to predict that humanity is far from finished with it. For those who want to help limit the effects of violence, understanding and anticipating the evolution of war remains a necessity. But war has always been a “chameleon”1 – it is ever-changing, adapting to new circumstances and camouflaging itself in international relations, national security and political rhetoric. Today, once again, war has transformed and escapes easy delineation. Our language itself seems incapable of conveying the reality we are facing, and we see this in several ways. First, while some are increasingly seeking to replace their soldiers with machines ‒ drones or automated weapon systems – that can strike beyond borders, others are making their own people into human bombs let loose amidst crowds of civilians. The contrasting figures of the drone pilot and the suicide bomber undoubtedly represent the two ends of the spectrum of contemporary violence. Second, we are witnessing a resurgence of terrorist attacks that instantly transform vacation spots or cultural and commercial venues into scenes of war. In response, these attacks elicit the use of means and rhetoric of warfare against elusive networks, or rather, rhizomes ‒ for, like those underground stems, they spread, emerging to strike where no one expects them. Furthermore, the notion of heroism, traditionally associated with obedience to a warrior’s code of honour, now seems either to be absent or to have been completely perverted by those who portray cowardly murders as so many glorious victories and proudly broadcast videos of their crimes on YouTube. Lastly, in a connected yet divided world, the front is everywhere and nowhere at the same time; war is both omnipresent and absent. Cyberspace itself has become the symbol of a new, ill-defined battlefield, with no contours or borders. Yet while constantly changing, war also shows its old faces. The nuclear threat, to which the Review’s previous issue was dedicated, remains a sword of Damocles hanging over humanity. Some States are reinvesting in conventional arsenals ‒ a navy, tanks or long-range artillery. As in the Middle Ages, cities are besieged in Syria and Yemen. The civil wars in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo hardly involve new technology or heavy weapons, yet they are among today’s deadliest conflicts. © icrc 2016 959 International Review of the Red Cross The confusion surrounding the metamorphosis of warfare now also seems to be affecting the progress of the effort, begun 150 years ago, to limit the effects of violence through international humanitarian law (IHL). There continue to be challenges to apply even the most basic rules, and sometimes even legal categories themselves are being challenged. We are seeing repeated attacks on civilians, humanitarian aid and health-care facilities, along with the rise of identity politics and the ebbing of solidarity movements. In this scenario, one is entitled to ask, as does Adama Dieng, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide, whether we are witnessing an erosion of respect for the law.2 Is the grand design of developing a “universal law” to contain violence failing? On the occasion of the remembrances marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War, the Review asked historians, legal scholars and humanitarian practitioners to look back at this century of wars from a humanitarian point of view. In using what we know of the past to illuminate the present and the future, the Review decided to adopt a longer-term perspective in this issue. The contributions collected here illustrate the changing face of conflict by placing human suffering ‒ so often relegated to the backdrop of history ‒ front and centre. They also touch upon positive developments and innovations in the field of humanitarian action and law. From the French Revolution to the World Wars: The age of mass war At the end of the eighteenth century, the typical features of war in Europe conjured up those of the ancient Greek tragedies, with their unities of action, time and place. War unfolded in well-defined places, such as battlefields in open country or towns and fortresses that came under siege. Its protagonists were mainly the soldiers and warlords themselves, in that a key element of victory was their valour in combat. Victory on the battlefield often guaranteed absolute victory, and war therefore had a beginning and an end. With the French Revolution, the patchwork of European countries entered a period of reconfiguration, expansion and conquest. On 23 August 1793, revolutionary France decreed mass conscription and paved the way for mobilizing all the resources of the “nation in arms”. From then on, universal conscription led to the enlistment of a much larger number of citizen- soldiers, ending the use of mercenaries in Europe. More numerous as well as more motivated, the conscripts fought in the name of popular ideals.3 1 Carl von Clausewitz, On War (originally published in German as Vom Kriege, 1832), indexed edition translated and edited by Michael Howard and Peter Paret, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1976, p. 89. 2 Adama Dieng, “Le respect du droit humanitaire”, Le Temps, 1 February 2016, available at: www.letemps.ch/ culture/2016/02/01/respect-droit-humanitaire (all internet references were accessed in September 2016). 3 Thus, the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe saw the 1792 Battle of Valmy between the French revolutionaries and the European monarchies as the start of “a new era in world history”.