The Law of Armed Conflict International Humanitarian Law in War

Chapter 4 brings the student fully into today’s LOAC with details of 1977’s Additional Protocol I and Protocol II. It explains why there was a need to update the 1949 Geneva Conventions and why A.P.s I and II, initially favored by the US, turned out not to be what the US and her allies had anticipated. There were positive changes and additions in both Protocols, as well as regrettable LOAC modifications. Both sides of that coin are examined, with discussion of the lasting results of both the positive and negative changes. It is significant to note that US self-interest did not always prevail, and to explain the basis of that lack of international consensus. Relaxing the requirements for prisoner of war status continues to block US ratification of either Protocol. In the A.P. negotiations the US paid a price for its somewhat ill-advised Vietnam venture but America has, by and large, learned to live with the AP I and II provisions it initially fought. Additional Protocol III (2005), far less significant than the earlier Protocols I and II, is also discussed, if briefly.