University Assignment: War, Peace, and Terrorism Research Analysis

This homework assignment delves into the realms of war, peace, and terrorism, exploring emerging military technologies and war crimes within the context of the Syrian Civil War. The assignment is divided into two main parts. Part I focuses on emerging military technologies, requiring the student to select one technology and analyze two articles discussing ethical and legal issues related to its use, with a focus on drone warfare and targeted killings. Part II examines war crimes in the Syrian Civil War, requiring the student to analyze three articles detailing war crimes committed by different parties involved in the conflict, specifically focusing on violations of jus in bello rules, including the use of chemical weapons and actions by ISIS. The assignment emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations, legal frameworks, and international laws in the context of modern warfare. The student provides summaries of the articles, including citations and links to the sources.

Running head: WAR, PEACE AND TERRORISM
War, Peace and Terrorism
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

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Part I: Emerging Military Technologies
1. Citation and link
Lee, P., 2013. Rights, wrongs and drones: Remote warfare, ethics and the challenge of just
war reasoning. Air Power Review, 16(3), pp.30-49.
URL:
https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/files/2814547/LEEp_2013_cright_RAF_APR_Right
s_wrongs_and_drones.pdf
Summary
On the basis of a UK Supreme Court judgment that applied the European Charter of
Human Rights, the author postulates that this judgement brings into question the ethics of
the Royal Air Force use of Reaper drones in Afghanistan, arguing that just as the Supreme
Court took the verdict of upholding the individual rights of combatants, so too the right of
non-combatants have to be considered if jus in bello have to be adhered to in the War on
Terror while minimizing the casualty count of soldiers who are deployed at the front to
fulfil military commitments on their part.
2. Citation and link
Coleman, M. and Gray, D.H., 2014. The Legality behind Targeted Killings and the Use of

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Drones in the War on Terror. Global Security Studies, 5(1).
URL: globalsecuritystudies.com/Final%20Coleman%20Targeted%20Killings-AG.pdf
Summary
This article argues that despite the growth of the use of drones and drone technology as
much as it has become synonymous with the on-going War on Terror, the development of
legal frameworks are still underway in order to make the use of drones an accountable act.
Especially, focus is placed upon fleshing out the definitions of boundaries, combatant
status and neutrality laws so that the use of the drone and its legality can be successfully
contextualized in a world where strategic defence and national security concerns are being
coupled with the desire of minimalizing casualties of soldiers deployed at the front.
Part II: War Crimes in the Syrian Civil War
1. Citation and link
Ruys, T., 2014. Of arms, funding and “non-lethal assistance”—issues surrounding third-
state intervention in the Syrian Civil War. Chinese Journal of International Law, 13(1),
pp.13-53.

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URL: https://academic.oup.com/chinesejil/article/13/1/13/292120
Summary
This article summarizes how various instances where foreign powers, both for and against
the al-Assad regime in Syria, have supplied arms to non-state entities who are currently
engaged in the Syrian civil war. Specifically, it looks upon how the United States has
armed and aided certain groups whom human rights organizations have ostensibly accused
of human rights violations. Thus, even when claiming to fight ISIS, the conduct of the
United States comes into question both from an ethical and legal standpoint and it has
made it necessary to view the American intervention from a critical lens.
2. Citation and link
Blake, J. and Mahmud, A., 2013. A legal red line: Syria and the use of chemical weapons
in civil conflict. UCLA L. Rev. Discourse, 61, p.244.
URL: www.uclalawreview.org/pdf/discourse/61-16.pdf
Summary
This article discusses about alleged war crimes committed by the Syrian government in the

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Syrian civil war, especially the use of chemical weapons against civilians. Even though
there is a clear and explicit ban on the use of chemical munitions in international law, this
ban becomes murky in its application in a conflict that involves multiple parties with their
own vested interests. The paper therefore concludes by recommending that the prohibition
on the use of chemical weapons should be banned in all armed conflicts, emphasizing on
the need to enforce the notion of jus in bello in all contexts of warfare.
3. Citation and link
Waltman III, G., 2016. Prosecuting ISIS. Miss. LJ, 85, p.817.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2537044
Summary
From a legal perspective, this paper investigates on the various ways in which ISIS could
be prosecuted in a court of law as it lists the various instances of it committing war crimes
including massacres, rapes and generally not respecting the rights enjoyed by non-
combatants according to international law. This paper thus not only documents the
instances where ISIS committed war crimes and crimes against humanity but it also
proposes the best way to prosecute them should the opportunity for doing so ever arise.

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