Chapter

The war (?) against Al-Qaeda

Noam Lubell

International law and the classification of conflicts

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2012

p. 421-454

English

This chapter examines the legal ambiguities surrounding a war that might not be a war, against an elusive ennemy whose existence as an organized entity is sometimes cast in doubt. Military operations are carried out under the mantle of this war and casualties and destruction have followed, rendering the analysis and classification a crucial matter. Although this conflict encompasses numerous —if not endless— challenges in the area of international law, the focus in this chapter is on those issues that have direct bearing upon the classification of the conflict.

• International law and the classification of conflicts / ed. by Elizabeth Wilmshurst ; Steven Haines... [et al.]