teen 1 2 read discuss and reflective response

A) Read

The act of war has been outlawed under international law. Sadly, things are never that simple. War will happen – between states and between states and non-states. But does the U.S. have to wait to actually be attacked before in can act? When and how states can act in self-defense is an important and still evolving area of the law. Based upon the change in the conduct of contemporary conflicts, some experts and governments contend that the traditional laws of armed conflict are no longer sufficient alone, but must be addressed in conjunction with international human rights law. The assigned articles delve into what conditions must exist for a state to properly exercise its right of self-defense under international law.

Discuss

Considering the articles, discuss the following:

If a diplomatic conference were to be organized with the purpose of drafting another Laws of Armed Conflict Convention, what subject matter should it address?
- Should it clarify or define existing conventions?
- If so, which ones? If not, why not? (Are they clear enough, would further defining terms provide too many restrictions, etc.)
If such a convention were to be drafted, would you recommend the United States become a signatory? Why or why not?

B) Read

Cyberwarfare is a novel concept and will greatly affect the future of war, by both state and non-state actors. Traditional notions of warfare do not readily transfer to the cyber world and yet there must be some rules which apply. The United States, along with experts from around the globe, concluded that the traditional laws of armed conflict apply in cyberspace just as they do in the physical world. The

The Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, though not an official document, is a seminal, comprehensive study of international law examining how “extant international legal norms apply to this ‘new’ form of warfare.” (quote from CCDCOE website). The experts who wrote the manual identified the generally applicable international law to guide cyber conflict. This manual addresses the “armed” cyber attack. Tallinn 2.0 is due to be published in 2016 and will examine the international legal framework that applies to malevolent cyber operations that do not rise to the level of “armed attacks.”

Because the world of cyber is uniquely borderless, asymmetric, and distributed, applying international humanitarian law presents unique challenges. While there is agreement that traditional laws apply, what that will actually look like remains unsettled.

International Law and Cyber Threats from Non-State Actors by Laurie Blank (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.