Modern War & Modern Law

02 June 2008

Professor David Kennedy

Warfare has become a legal institution. Law organises and disciplines the military, defines the battle-space, privileges killing the enemy, and offers a common language to debate the legitimacy of waging war - down to the tactics of particular battle. At the same time, law is no longer a matter of firm distinctions - combatant and non-combatant, war and peace. It has become a flexible and strategic partner for both the military and for humanitarians seeking to restrain the violence of warfare. The relationship between modern war and modern law is made all the more complex by today's asymmetric conflicts, and by the loss of a shared vision about what the law means and how it should be applied.

In this lecture Professor Kennedy explores the ways in which good legal arguments can make people lose their moral compass and sense of responsibility for the violence of war.

Professor Kennedy's visit was organised by the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law.

Broad Topics: Asia and the Pacific, Law

Sub-topics: International Law, Law, Justice & Law Enforcement, Policy & Political Science

Areas: ANU College of Law

David Kennedy is Vice President for International Affairs, University Professor of Law and David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of International Relations at Brown University. He is also the Manley O. Hudson Visiting Professor of Law and Director of the European Law Research Center at Harvard Law School, where he taught for more than twenty five years before moving to Brown, and Visiting Professor of Law at the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. He teaches international law, international economic policy, European law, legal theory, and law and development. He has practiced law with various international institutions, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Commission of the European Union. He is the author of various articles on international law and legal theory, and founder of the New Approaches to International Law project.

Part of the 2008 Toyota-ANU Public Lecture Series