Current Issues of International Law in Regulating Counter - Insurgency and Counter - Terrorism

Abstract

The study sheds light on the current tendencies and examines if the international law on warfare can successfully be applied in practical reality in the progress of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts. There have been two phenomena identified recently in warfare which endanger the public security and public safety of the democratic states of the world: terrorism and insurgency. Both of them mean a threat and attack on the population and the government authorities. It has been queried in military literature whether these new forms of warfare should be handled by military engagements or law enforcement. This is, nevertheless, not just a dilemma concerning the strategy on how to combat against them, but should be, at the same time, all done in accordance with the international legal regulations. This study is going to outline how the international law based on the principles of traditional warfare can be applied to insurgent or terrorist groups. Special emphasis will be given to see if the relevant laws have failures in regulating these new forms of warfare, and if so, what changes should be proposed for the recent regulations of international law.