THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF WAR IN A CYBER-WORLD AND ITS IMPACT ON THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Year 2018, Volume: 3 Issue: 5, 76 - 90, 31.07.2018

Mohammed Ismael

Abstract

War as a social construct of dominating others to achieve ones interest at the expense of other
in a competitive global community is an enigma to resolve in the discourse of International
Humanitarian Law. Thus, the salience of the transformations of the structure of war in the
midst of the current transition of geopolitics from a unipolar world to a seemingly multi-polar
world reverberate the debate of international law within the domain of cyber technological
weapons, specifically, International Humanitarian Law. This has raised many questions in the
application of international humanitarian law in a world where electromagnet weapons, cyber
weapons and high-tech defensive system are developed to counter enemy attack. This paper
discuss the changing nature of war in a cyber-world bringing to bear its impact on the
International Humanitarian Law. The paper posits that with the fast changes in war strategy
and cyber oriented weaponry, an improved sophisticated and inclusive laws with a stronger
institutional backing must be developed considering the socio-cultural and technological ideas
of countries to increase the level of compliance.

Keywords

International Humanitarian law (IHL), armed conflict, structure of war, law of war. Cyberspace, Cyber technology, Cyber weapons

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