The ICRC Intercross Blog Series on the Typology of Conflicts

"Intercross," the blog page of the International Committee of the Red Cross, is currently running a series of posts with leading ICRC lawyers and guest commentators on the complex and often vexed question of the legal typology of armed conflict.  The head of the ICRC legal department, Knut Doermann, introduced the whole series, followed by a podcast on conflict typology from my old friend, and legal adviser to the ICRC, Jelena Pejic.  The first two guest posts on typologies are up.  The first is by Geoffrey Corn, well known to folks at Lawfare, of course. The second is by my old friend and colleague here at Washington College of Law, Bob Goldman, long an eminent voice in international humanitarian law, human rights law, and particularly their application in the Americas.  This series on armed conflict typology is one of four that will take place at Intercross over the coming weeks, all rooted in the 2011 ICRC report, International Law and the Challenge of Contemporary Armed Conflicts.  The four are: typologies of conflicts; IHL and terrorism; new technologies of warfare; and multinational operations.  These are very substantive discussions, and it is particularly helpful for US lawyers in these areas to get a sense of the legal views of the ICRC, where they converge as well as diverge.