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China Maritime Report No. 15: The New Chinese Marine Corps: A "Strategic Dagger" In A Cross-Strait Invasion, Conor Kennedy

CMSI China Maritime Reports

Since 2017, the People’s Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC) has undergone significant expansion, growing from two brigades to eight. The major impetus behind these efforts is a desire to build the service arm into an expeditionary force capable of operating in most environments at short notice. However, PLANMC reform has also bolstered its ability to contribute to major campaigns along China’s periphery, including a Taiwan invasion scenario. This report examines the PLANMC’s role in a cross-strait amphibious campaign and analyzes how new additions to the force could be used against Taiwan.

Intelligence Sharing In Multinational Military Operations And Complicity Under International Law, Marko Milanovic

International Law Studies

This article examines the international legal framework applicable to intelligence sharing in multinational military operations, with a particular focus on complicity scenarios. It first provides a theoretical overview of the role of fault in complicity, of how intent and knowledge can be conceptualized, and of the attribution of fault to States. It then looks in detail at the rule codified in Article 16 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility, and argues that this rule is best understood as employing multiple modes of fault (direct and indirect intent and wilful blindness). The article also argues that international humanitarian …

Booty, Bounty, Blockade, And Prize: Time To Reevaluate The Law, Andrew Clapham

International Law Studies

This article considers the so-called belligerent rights of States in times of war. In particular it focuses on booty of war, blockade, and the capture of merchant ships and their cargo. It is suggested that, while the rules may not often be applied today, they nevertheless continue to exert a certain influence, contributing to confusion about the boundaries of the legitimate use of force and a blurring of the distinction between military objectives and civilian objects.

Considering that the UN Charter has outlawed the use of force, the article also questions why such rules concerning capture should continue to have …

Crafting Naval Strategy: Observations And Recommendations For The Development Of Future Strategies, Bruce B. Stubbs, Sam J. Tangredi

Leidos Chair of Future Warfare Studies Black Books

The “great captains” of military history have described the contradictions between rigorous, formal, institutionalized planning and the commonly chaotic results and necessary readjustments through a series of pithy aphorisms that by now have become clichés. The Prussian field marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder is cited—routinely, exhaustingly, almost annoyingly—as having said, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Yet perhaps Moltke captured the challenge more succinctly in a lesser-known but more apt quote: “Strategy is a system of expedients; it is more than a mere scholarly discipline.”

The Plea Of Necessity: An Oft Overlooked Response Option To Hostile Cyber Operations, Louise Arimatsu, Michael N. Schmitt

International Law Studies

States are increasingly focused on the measures—cyber or otherwise—that they can take in response to hostile cyber operations. Although cyber operations are usually responded to with acts of “retorsion” (acts that are lawful, although unfriendly), international law recognizes other self-help mechanisms that allow for more robust responses. In the cyber context, most attention has focused on countermeasures and self-defense. Yet, both are subject to various limitations that constrain their availability.

This article examines a further option, the so-called “plea of necessity.” It allows States to respond to a hostile cyber operation when the action taken would otherwise be unlawful but …

China’S Container Missile Deployments Could Violate The Law Of Naval Warfare, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

China is reportedly developing long-range cruise missiles that can be fired from standard shipping containers loaded on merchant vessels. China is also converting heavy-lift civilian ships and roll-on roll-off (RORO) ferries to serve as de facto amphibious assault ships to support People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amphibious operations. While none of these activities are illegal per se, they do raise potential concerns under the law of naval warfare. Only warships can engage in offensive belligerent rights during an international armed conflict. Using merchant vessels to engage in belligerent rights would violate international law unless China first converts the vessels into warships …

Cyber Attribution And State Responsibility, William Banks

International Law Studies

We might expect international law to specifically address cyber attribution requirements due to the significance of attribution in framing the legal responsibility of States and the boundaries of responsive actions by victim States. However, there is little international law of cyber attribution, and what law there is exists largely by implication. Likewise, there is only a murky and highly contested law of State responsibility that theoretically constrains the vast majority of State-sponsored cyberattacks. Because victim States cannot engage in countermeasures unless they attribute a cyberattack to a State, attribution can serve simultaneously to constrain and empower victim States. However, the …

U.S. Recognition Of A Commander’S Duty To Punish War Crimes, Brian Finucane

International Law Studies

This article explores the United States' recognition of the doctrine of command responsibility. The doctrine has been invoked by those alleging that President Trump’s pardons of U.S. personnel convicted or accused of war crimes could amount to war crimes themselves. The article focuses on a commander’s duty to punish war crimes by his subordinates. It examines the United States’ past recognition of the duty to punish as an element of command responsibility under the law of war. The principle that a commander has an obligation to punish war crimes by his subordinates is not a progressive development of the law …

The International Law Of Prolonged Sieges And Blockades: Gaza As A Case Study, Eyal Benvenisti

International Law Studies

In 2007, after Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip, the area was subjected to an Israeli land siege, complemented in 2009 by a sea blockade. Since then, the already-dire living conditions in the Strip have declined consistently and the area’s dependence on external aid has grown. This essay examines the duties of a military power in imposing what is effectively a years-long confinement of people and outlines a general argument for expanding the obligations of a party that imposes a prolonged siege or blockade. I consider these obligations in light of three potentially relevant legal frameworks: the law of occupation; …

“Vincere!”: The Italian Royal Army’S Counterinsurgency Operations In Africa, 1922–1940, Charles D. Melson, Federica Saini Fasanotti

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

On War And Politics: The Battlefield Inside Washington’S Beltway, Thomas J. Gibbons, Arnold L. Punaro, David Poyer

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence And Global Security: Future Trends, Threats And Considerations, Thomas Culora, Yvonne R. Masakowski

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Six Victories: North Africa, Malta, And The Mediterranean Convoy War, November 1941–March 1942, Fabio De Ninno, Vincent P. O’Hara

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Scratch One Flattop: The First Carrier Air Campaign And The Battle Of The Coral Sea, Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, Robert C. Stern

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

London And Washington—Maintaining Naval Cooperation Despite Strategic Differences During Operation Earnest Will, Richard A. Mobley

Naval War College Review

Recently declassified British records reveal London’s misgivings about America’s 1987 reflagging and escorting of Kuwaiti tankers amid the Iran-Iraq War. This early case study illustrates the challenges of conducting coalition warfare in the Middle East, even with a close, cooperative partner. National-level differences revealed surmountable fissures in coordinating naval strategies and operations, yet the benefits of the relationship justified the friction encountered.

The Middle Kingdom Returns To The Sea, While America Turns Its Back—How China Came To Dominate The Global Maritime Industry, And The Implications For The World, Christopher J. Mcmahon

Naval War College Review

China soon virtually will control the global seagoing supply chain, with staggering consequences for the United States, its allies, and the world. As a nation dependent on maritime transportation for its economy and the movement of its military forces, the United States must take immediate, decisive steps to promote the reestablishment of a healthy and competitive U.S. maritime industry.

One Approach, Two Results—The French Army, The U.S. Marines, And The Frontal Assault During The World Wars, Ethan S. Rafuse

Naval War College Review

The French army’s 1940 campaign was disastrous, whereas the U.S. Marine Corps cracked the problem of making an opposed amphibious landing, keying victory over imperial Japan. But despite these military organizations’ different approaches, a closer examination reveals that the two services shared more in common in the problems they faced and the answers they developed than their operational results suggest.

The 1988 Blues—Admirals, Activists, And The Development Of The Chinese Maritime Identity, Andrew Rhodes

Naval War College Review

In 1988, the views of the prodemocracy creators of a popular documentary had little in common with the PLAN leadership’s views regarding China’s governance, but there is surprising overlap in the way the two groups were “selling the sea,” helping to explain a critical moment in the evolution of China’s maritime identity and commitment to maritime power.

The Transformation Of The Israel Defense Forces, Avi Jager

Naval War College Review

Recent major changes to the Israel Defense Forces that reduced infantry, armor, and artillery elements in response to the rise of nonstate adversaries mean that in any future multifront war it will be much more difficult for IDF ground forces to capture areas in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere.

Cultural Challenges For Israeli Sea Power In The Eastern Mediterranean, Samuel Helfont

Naval War College Review

The strategic-military significance of the recent discovery of extensive natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean works against Israel’s traditional reluctance to become a sea power. But any “turn to the sea” will require adopting a broad national and strategic mind-set in the face of cultural constraints that keep Israel tied to the land.

From The Editors, Robert Ayer

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

President's Forum, Shoshana Chatfield Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, President, Naval War College

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Spring 2021 Full Issue, The U.S. Naval War College

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

China Maritime Report No. 14: Chinese Views Of The Military Balance In The Western Pacific, Eric Heginbotham

CMSI China Maritime Reports

This report examines Chinese views about the military balance of power between China and the United States in the Western Pacific. It argues that while there is no single “Chinese” view on this topic, Chinese analysts tend to agree that 1) the gap between the two militaries has narrowed significantly in recent years, 2) the Chinese military still lags in important ways, and 3) Chinese military inferiority vis-à-vis the U.S. increases the further away it operates from the Mainland. In terms of specific areas of relative strength, the Chinese military has shown the greatest improvements in military hardware, but has …

Legal Advisers In The Field During Armed Conflict, Yoram Dinstein

International Law Studies

Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 requires that legal advisers be made available to military commanders, particularly during hostilities. This treaty stipulation was quite innovative in 1977, but it has achieved widespread implementation, even among non-Contracting Parties. It is noteworthy that the United States—which objects to numerous provisions of Additional Protocol I—does not dissent from the article requiring legal advisers. A study of the practice of States, made by the International Committee of the Red Cross, confirms that the norm requiring that legal advisers be made available to advise military commanders in time of armed conflict currently …

Professor Howard S. Levie: In Memoriam, Yoram Dinstein

International Law Studies

Professor Howard S. Levie: In Memoriam

Transformative Disarmament: Crafting A Roadmap For Peace, Louise Arimatsu

International Law Studies

Notwithstanding their absence in the formal structures of power, women have engaged actively with disarmament for over a century. Their activism has been rich and complex. It is, however, not a history that is generally familiar to those outside the world of feminist activism and scholarship. This article tells the story of feminist activism and scholarship and how women have sought to overcome exclusion, marginalization, and silencing in both policy and law in pursuit of what the author describes as a transformative disarmament agenda. It is concerned not only with women’s political activism and the struggle for equal participation in …

Neutrality And Cyberspace: Bridging The Gap Between Theory And Reality, Noam Neuman

International Law Studies

While there exists a broad consensus among States that international law generally applies to the cyber domain, particular views regarding the applicability of the law of neutrality have rarely been put forward, and presently there seems to be insufficient State practice and domain-specific opinio juris in this regard. Against this backdrop, several attempts have been made throughout the years to apply certain neutrality rules to cyberspace by referring to analogies from other domains. However, this legal regime provides an emblematic example of what the introduction of traditional rules of international law, formulated with the physical domains of warfare in mind, …

Military Action To Recover Occupied Land: Lawful Self-Defense Or Prohibited Use Of Force? The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Revisited, Tom Ruys, Felipe Rodriguez Silvestre

International Law Studies

In September 2020, heavy fighting erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan long controlled by Armenia. After two months of military confrontations, a tripartite ceasefire was concluded, drastically altering the pre-existing territorial status quo.

The "Second Nagorno-Karabakh War" brings to light a fundamental question for international law on the use of force—and one that has received limited attention in legal doctrine. The question is this: when part of a State’s territory is occupied by another State for an extended period of time, can the former still invoke the right of self-defense to justify …

Reflections On Reading, The U.S. Naval War College

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.