Tactical Nuclear Weapons in International Humanitarian Law

Tactical Nuclear Weapons in International Humanitarian Law PDF

Author: Stefan Kirchner

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2015-09-10

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 3668043795

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Scientific Study from the year 2015 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, , language: English, abstract: This article examines the legality of tactical nuclear weapons under International Humanitarian Law. Additionally, the ideas behind the development of tactical nuclear weapons as well as their historical background during the Cold War and after 9/11 are examined. Tactical (or 'small') nuclear weapons have been developed during the Cold War and had been deployed e.g. to West Germany for possible use on the battlefield in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. After the end of the Cold War, the dangerous idea that nuclear weapons could be used on the battlefield without triggering a global thermonuclear conflict has remained relevant. It has been discussed e.g. in the context of the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program as one possible way to destroy hardened or underground targets. In this paper the issue of tactical nuclear weapons is approached from the perspective of International Humanitarian Law, the set of rules which govern the conduct of armed forces in conflict.

Nuclear Weapons and International Humanitarian Law

Nuclear Weapons and International Humanitarian Law PDF

Author: Sreoshi Sinha

Publisher:

Published: 2022-02-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789391490713

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International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or the Law of War is a branch of international law that condemns the use of nuclear weapons as being opposed to human principles and morality. This field of international law, as promulgated by the 1949 Geneva Convention, is profoundly anchored in Conventional Treaties, Customary Law, and basic legal concepts. They are outlined in international treaties and military textbooks on "law of armed conflict." The basic standards apply generally as a matter of customary international law and hence bind all governments regardless of their allegiance to a specific treaty. IHL, which applies equally to aggressor and victim states, strives to eliminate cruelty, unnecessary suffering, and devastation, as well as to maintain the potential of achieving a just and lasting peace. Thus, bearing in mind the fundamental principles of International Humanitarian Law, this work attempts to depict and analyse the position of nuclear weapons within the current form of IHL. There has been ongoing investigation into the merits of total destruction of this unconventional type of warfare, and enormous thought has been given to the lex lata laws that apply to nuclear bombs. The book begins with the "International Court of Justice's (ICJ) 1996 Advisory Opinion on The Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion" as its starting point. This book incorporates scholarly analysis of legal issues within the context of wider political arguments over the legal status of nuclear weapons under international law.

Nuclear Weapons under International Law

Nuclear Weapons under International Law PDF

Author: Gro Nystuen

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-08-28

Total Pages: 804

ISBN-13: 1139992740

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Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.

Challenging nuclearism

Challenging nuclearism PDF

Author: Marianne Hanson

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2022-05-31

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1526165082

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Challenging nuclearism explores how a deliberate ‘normalisation’ of nuclear weapons has been constructed, why it has prevailed in international politics for over seventy years and why it is only now being questioned seriously. The book identifies how certain practices have enabled a small group of states to hold vast arsenals of these weapons of mass destruction and how the close control over nuclear decisions by a select group has meant that the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons have been disregarded for decades. The recent UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will not bring about quick disarmament. It has been decried by the nuclear weapon states. But by rejecting nuclearism and providing a clear denunciation of nuclear weapons, it will challenge nuclear states in a way that has until now not been possible. Challenging nuclearism analyses the origins and repercussions of this pivotal moment in nuclear politics.

Viewing Nuclear Weapons Through a Humanitarian Lens

Viewing Nuclear Weapons Through a Humanitarian Lens PDF

Author: John Borrie

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13:

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There is renewed and deep international concern about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from the detonation of nuclear weapons in populated areas. Yet 25 years after the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence remain central to the security doctrines of a significant number of states. Drawing on a range of perspectives, this volume explores what viewing nuclear weapons through a humanitarian lens entails, and why it is of value. Recent developments in this respect are also examined, and what these could mean for nuclear arms control in the near future.

Ethics and Nuclear Deterrence

Ethics and Nuclear Deterrence PDF

Author: Geoffrey Goodwin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-11-19

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1000199320

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As nuclear weapons become ever more sophisticated, so the deterrence debate becomes increasingly complex. The ‘Ban the Bomb’ slogans of the 1950s had been replaced by cries for ‘nuclear-free zones’, and talk of ‘megatonnage’ and ‘fallout’ had given way to talk of ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons and ‘limited strike capability’. Originally published in 1982, this book considers the ethical issues raised by nuclear policies and by the debate between proponents of the multilateralist/unilateralist approaches to disarmament and arms control at the time. It is not, like so many books on the subject, an ideological statement: there are essays by defence strategists which put the case for deterrence and essays by academics and churchmen which strenuously oppose it. The book also includes an essay on attempts to mitigate the appalling brutality of the many ‘conventional’ wars since 1945. At a time when the rhetoric and misinformation produced on both sides of the debate continued to obscure many vital issues, this book was welcome, sensible and necessary.

The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law

The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law PDF

Author: Dieter Fleck

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-02-25

Total Pages: 817

ISBN-13: 019258720X

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The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law sets out a black letter text of international humanitarian law accompanied by case analysis and extensive explanatory commentary by a team of distinguished and internationally renowned experts. This is the fourth edition of this influential and comprehensive handbook. It has been extensively updated and revised, taking into account recent legal developments, such as the 2017 Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, as well as the ongoing debate on many old and new issues. Areas covered by the book include the notion of direct participation in hostilities; air and missile warfare; military operations in outer space; military cyber operations; belligerent occupation; operational detention; and the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. The continuing need to consider borderline issues of the law of armed conflict as well as the interplay of international humanitarian law, human rights law, and other branches of international law is highlighted. This Handbook provides an in-depth understanding of the development and current problems of the law of armed conflicts. It considers legal and policy issues both from the views of academics and military and diplomatic practitioners. Finally - and most importantly - it offers a complete account of activities that should be taken to improve the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law.

Preventing Nuclear War

Preventing Nuclear War PDF

Author: John Loretz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 1000059391

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Preventing Nuclear War: The Medical and Humanitarian Case for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons provides a window into the work of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) health professionals, advocates and activists as they persuaded diplomats, parliamentarians, the media, and the public to ban nuclear weapons. Why are doctors speaking out about nuclear weapons and nuclear war, an issue that seems to be the exclusive province of diplomats, politicians, and security experts? This volume offers an answer in the unique perspective of health professionals on the nature of nuclear weapons, their medical and humanitarian consequences, and the responsibility to prevent what cannot be treated. On 7 July 2017, the UN successfully concluded negotiations on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The "ban treaty," emerged from a "humanitarian initiative" that shifted the focus away from deterrence-based rationales used by the nuclear-armed states and toward an evidence-based understanding of the existential threat nuclear weapons pose to humanity. Since 1980, IPPNW has been the leading medical organization primarily dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons. With its civil society partners in ICAN—the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons—IPPNW brought the scientific evidence about nuclear weapons and nuclear war into the treaty negotiations and into the language of the TPNW itself. The contributors to this volume show the dedication and diverse strategies that have together made up a unified and very significant contribution to ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Reflecting honestly on what has been learnt and have the potential to contribute to wider learning outside the anti-nuclear community, Preventing Nuclear War: The Medical and Humanitarian Case for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be of great use to medical and health professionals, humanitarian professionals, and anyone wanting to work towards a more peaceful and equitable world. The chapters originally published as a special issue of Medicine, Conflict and Survival.

Nuclear Weapons and Scientific Responsibility

Nuclear Weapons and Scientific Responsibility PDF

Author: C. G. Weeramantry

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9789041112897

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Several years ago when this work first appeared, it had become apparent that scientists, who play such a key role in the nuclear enterprise, needed to be alerted to the many questions of conscience and legality that were inextricably interlinked with their work. These questions lay at the heart of the nuclear weapons problem, for whatever the political and military leaders might ordain, the manufacture of such weapons was a plain impossibility without the active assistance of the scientific profession. Yet no substantive work on this topic had until then been attempted. Such a work appeared at that time to be an urgent and important need. If the problem was then acute and serious, it is even more so now. The power of nuclear science has grown and with it has grown the power of the individual scientist to initiate new developments. The changes in the world order that have occurred in the intervening years enable individual scientists to hold themselves out as available for employment. Those who seek their expertise may include not only governments but other entities as well. The power of global destruction that these scientists command renders it imperative that they be alerted on a continuing basis to the problems of conscience that arise. Hence the need for a re-issue of this work, for which there had been many requests from concerned scientists, professional groups, socially concerned organisations and also from lawyers. The book is re-issued in its original form but updated by the inclusion of more recent work as contained in extracts from three judicial opinions upon the matter.