Keynote Address: The Emerging Law of 21st Century War

What exactly is the emerging law of the twenty-first century war? That question breaks into three, which organize this lecture. First, what basic rules govern these twenty-first century tools? Second, what principles of law are emerging in particular areas of modern armed conflict, namely, interrogation, detention, special operations, drones, robots, cyber war, and private security contractors?

Third, how are these emerging law of war principles implicated by the great crisis of today, Syria, which raises such intertwined issues as mass migration, humanitarian intervention (or Responsibility to Protect), and the crime of aggression?