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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 …

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

Spotlight on vaccinations and humanitarian aid in rebel-controlled territories and conflict settings

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In the last few weeks, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation have both declared a public health emergency over the ongoing mpox outbreak, with a new strain reportedly first detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While vaccine rollout in the region has faced delays due to high …

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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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New ICRC Opinion Paper on Legal Classification of Armed Conflict

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The ICRC has published a new 2024 Opinion Paper explaining their approach in legally classifying contemporary armed conflicts. It is intended to make the ICRC’s methodology for classification accessible and transparent for all who are interested in the subject. The last time that the ICRC published an Opinion Paper on this matter was 2008. Since …

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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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Book Discussion 18th January 2024: Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality

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On Thursday 18th January, there will be a book panel discussion at Utrecht University on the new edited volume that Ezequiel Heffes and I edited: – ‘Armed Groups and International Law: In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality’ (Edward Elgar 2023). Through a careful consideration of the status of armed groups within a complex legal …

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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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