Chapter

Developping rules of engagement : operationalizing law, policy, and military imperatives at the strategic level

Gary P. Corn

U.S. military operations : law, policy, and practice

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016

p. 209-248

English

This chapter provides a comprehensive explanation of the role of rules of engagement (ROE) in contemporary military operations. It includes a discussion of how ROE evolved over time, an explanation of the central ROE doctrine in U.S. military practice—the Standing Rules of Engagement, and an explanation of how ROE are adapted to synchronize legal authority with mission dictates. It also explains the relationship between the right of self-defense and ROE, an explanation that is essential to truly understand use-of-force paradigms in contemporary military operations. The chapter then explains how ROE are tailored to different operational contexts, and how commanders and their operational staffs “negotiate” the actual mission-specific ROE in a variety of contexts.

• Full text (restricted access : ICRC)

• U.S. military operations : law, policy, and practice / ed. by Geoffrey S. Corn, Rachel E. VanLandingham and Shane R. Reeves ; foreword by Stanley A. McChrystal