THE BIRTH and LIFE of the DEFINITION of MILITARY OBJECTIVES

Abstract

The forgotten story of the birth and life of the definition of 'military objectives' is relevant to the ongoing discussion about the need to adapt the law to asymmetric warfare. This definition, authored by a West German law professor and former member of the Nazi party, was driven by a Western effort to privilege regular armies while curbing the actions of guerrilla fighters and exposing their civilian supporters to harm. The Non-Aligned Movement turned the tide by burdening regular armies while exempting irregular combatants from the consequences of disregarding the law. It was only through judicial intervention - grounded in an imagined history of the linear progress of humanity - that civilians on both sides of asymmetric conflicts would ultimately become entitled to receive adequate protection.