Chapter

Assessing the effects and effectiveness of the Geneva Conventions

Nina Tannenwald

Do the Geneva Conventions matter ?

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017

p. 1-34

English

This chapter describes the Geneva Conventions as an international regime—its core principles and norms, the mechanisms by which it operates, and the particular challenges it faces. It reviews theoretical arguments in the literature about the effectiveness and impact of the laws of war. It develops a theoretical framework regarding the issue of compliance with and internalization of norms that informs the analysis conducted in the empirical cases. This framework is employed by authors of the empirical chapters to assess how “internalized” (or not) the Geneva Conventions are in the practices of the countries analyzed in the volume. Finally, the chapter concludes by laying out the plan of the rest of the book.

• Full text (restricted access : ICRC)

• Do the Geneva Conventions matter ? / ed. by Matthew Evangelista and Nina Tannenwald