Deals with the implications of 'the new wars' in the post 9-11 world. This work shows how old war thinking in Iraq has greatly exacerbated what is the archetypal new war - with insurgency, chaos and the occupying forces' lack of direction prescient of a different kind of conflict emerging in the 21st Century.

Examines the difficulties in applying international law to recent armed conflicts known as 'new wars'.

Bringing together contributors from philosophy, international relations, security studies, and strategic studies, New Wars and New Soldiers offers a truly interdisciplinary analysis reflective of the nature of modern warfare. This comprehensive approach allows the reader to see the broad scope of modern military ethics, and to understand the numerous questions about modern conflict that require critical scrutiny. Aimed at both military and academic audiences, this paperback will be of significant interest to researchers and students in philosophy, sociology, military and strategic studies, international relations, politics, and security studies, acting as an ideal course text or as supplementary reading.

"This book examines the nature of today's internal and regionalized conflicts, together with the systems of global governance that have emerged in response to them. The widespread commitment among donor governments and aid agencies to conflict resolution and social reconstruction indicates that war is now part of development discourse. The very notion of development, the author argues, has been radicalized in the process, and now requires the direct transformation of Third World societies. This radicalization is closely associated with the redefinition of security. Because conflict is understood as stemming from a developmental malaise, underdevelopment itself is now seen as a source of instability." "The author argues, however, that transforming the social systems of developing countries is beyond the ability and legitimacy of individual governments in the North. As a result, governments, NGOs, security forces, private companies and UN agencies have all become part of an emerging and complex system of global governance. The aim is to secure stability on the borders of ordered society where the world encounters the violence of the new wars." "This book represents contribution to our understanding of modern conflict and the difficulties of effective engagement. Together with practitioners and policymakers seeking a challenging interpretation of their work, the book will be of direct interest to students and scholars in the fields of international security, political economy, political theory and development studies."--BOOK JACKET.

This book looks at the evolving relationship between war and international law, examining the complex practical and legal dilemmas posed by the changing nature of war in the contemporary world, whether the traditional rules governing the onset and conduct of hostilities apply anymore, and how they might be adapted to new realities. War, always messy, has become even messier today, with the blurring of interstate, intrastate, and extrastate violence. How can the United States and other countries be expected to fight honourably and observe the existing norms when they often are up against an adversary who recognizes no such obligations? Indeed, how do we even know whether an "armed conflict" is underway when modern wars tend to lack neat beginnings and endings and seem geographically indeterminate, as well? What is the legality of anticipatory self-defense, humanitarian intervention, targeted killings, drones, detention of captured prisoners without POW status, and other controversial practices? These questions are explored through a review of the United Nations Charter, Geneva Conventions, and other regimes and how they have operated in recent conflicts. Through a series of case studies, including the U.S. war on terror and the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, Kosovo, and Congo, the author illustrates the challenges we face today in the ongoing effort to reduce war and, when it occurs, to make it more humane.