Analysis

Beyond Compliance Symposium: What’s in the frame? Understanding everyday lived experiences of armed conflict through a lens of ‘harm+need’

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Editors’ note: This post forms part of the Beyond Compliance Symposium: How to Prevent Harm and Need in Conflict, featured across Articles of War and Armed Groups and International Law. The introductory post can be found here. The symposium invites reflection on the conceptualisation of negative everyday lived experiences of armed conflict, and legal and extra-legal strategies that can effectively address …

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Beyond Compliance Symposium: Why and How to Go “Beyond the Law” to Address Negative Lived Experiences of Armed Conflict

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Editors’ note: This post forms part of the Beyond Compliance Symposium: How to Prevent Harm and Need in Conflict, featured across Articles of War and Armed Groups and International Law from September 2024 onwards. The extended symposium invites reflection on the conceptualisation of negative everyday lived experiences of armed conflict, and legal and extra-legal strategies, including compliance and restraint, that …

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Armed Groups, Religious Leaders, and Humanitarian Norms: Reflecting on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria and Ansar Allah in Yemen

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Most conflicts today are non-international, fought between a state and one or more non-state armed groups (NSAGs), or between NSAGs. In this context, engaging with NSAGs and de facto authorities presents a series of challenges to those humanitarian workers who seek to promote international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). Although remarkable normative and practical advances have …

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The Legal Capacity of Non-State Armed Groups to Make Agreements with States: The Example of the Houthis in Yemen

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On July 22, 2024, the Shia Islamist political and military organization known as the Houthis in Yemen concluded a new special agreement with the internationally recognised government of Yemen to de-escalate tensions between the two sides. It demands initiating the convening of meetings to discuss both economic and humanitarian issues, especially the release and repatriation of conflict-related …

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Open Call for Contributions: Exploring Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions

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As we commemorate this year the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, our blog, “Armed Groups and International Law,” invites scholars, practitioners, and experts in international humanitarian law (IHL) to contribute blog posts addressing various dimensions of Common Article 3. This foundational provision, encapsulated within the Conventions, has significantly shaped the landscape of IHL, …

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Special Issue of Citizenship Studies on Aspirant States

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The latest Special Issue of Citizenship Studies contains 12 contributions which use political science, international law and anthropology literature to unmoor the primacy of the nation-state as the sole entity able to confer legal identity on individuals. These contributions examine legal identity documents in entities referred to as “aspirant states” with the aim to highlight …

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The phantom comes back: IHL abuse in Ecuador?

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On January 9th, 2024, Ecuador’s Government declared the existence of non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under international humanitarian law (IHL) against 22 groups located in different detention facilities across the country. The question on this political and legal decision relates to the return of the “phantom” of the war against terrorism and the overuse of lethal …

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Humanitarian assistance in siege contexts: a contradiction in terms?

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In one of the more infamous medieval descriptions of life under siege, Calais defender Jean de Vienne wrote to the king of France in 1347 pleading for support. Noting the consumption of rats, dogs, and horses, he claimed that soon nothing would remain “unless we eat the flesh of men.” Philippe VI eventually declined and the fortified …

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Engaging armed groups on environmental protection and climate change: current challenges, approaches and looking to the future

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With thanks to Anki Sjöberg and Florian Weigand for their input and feedback. On 31 October, the Centre on Armed Groups, ODI Global Risks & Resilience and Fight for Humanity co-organised a panel discussion on “Engaging armed groups on environmental protection and climate change” as part of the Geneva Peace Week. With panellists from across …

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The Gaza effect: How the Israel-Hamas war is shaping armed group behaviour and the prospects of engagement

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Note: this contribution was originally posted as a rapid analysis on the Centre on Armed Groups, and is being reshared with permission. Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes of Rafah in southern Gaza, October 10, 2023 (Credit: Shutterstock/Anas-Mohammed) In the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, there has been a palpable …

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