"A companion volume to the author's seminal textbook War, Aggression and Self-Defence (third edition, Cambridge 2001), this book focuses on issues arising in the course of hostilities between the States, with an emphasis on the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The main themes considered...are lawful and unlawful combatants; war crimes, including command responsibility and defences; prohibited weapons; the distinction between combatants and civilians; legitimate military objectives; and the protection of the environment and cultural property. Numerous specific topics...are addressed, such as human shields, feigned surrenders, collateral damage and proportionality, belligerent reprisals and weapons of mass destruction."--from the publisher.

1.The general framework - I. The sources _ A. Customary international law and treaty law - B. The prinicipal treaties - II. The semantics - III. Inter-States armed conflicts - IV. Military necessity and humanitarian considerations - V. Humanitarian law and human rights - VI. Dissemination - 2. Lawful combatancy - I. Combatants and civilians - II. Lawful and unlawful combatants - III. The entitlement to prisoners of war status under customary international law - IV. The legal position under Protocol I of 1977 - V. A case study: the war in Afghanistan - VI. Mercenaries - VII. Armed merchant vessels - 3. Prohibited weapons - I. Introduction - II. The principal prohibiting unnecessary suffering - III. Explicit prohibitions or restrictions of certain weapons - A. Conventional weapons - B. Weapons of mass destruction - IV. Status of nuclear weapons - V. Development of new weapons - 4. Legitimate military objectives - I. Principle of distinction and military objectives - II. Definition of military objectives by nature, location, purpose and use - III. General problems relating to the scope of military objectives - IV. Defended and undefended localities in land warfare - V. Special problems relating to sea warfare - VI. Special problems relating to air warfare - 5. Protection of civilians and civilian objects from attack - 6. Measures of special protection - I. Persons entitled to special protection - II. Cultural property and places of worship - III. Medical units - IV. Works and installations containing dangerous forces - 7. Protection of the environment - I. Introduction - II. International legal texts - III. Dissimilarities between the ENMOD Convention and Protocol I - IV. A case study: setting fire to oil wells in the Gulf War - V. Conclusion - 8. Other methods and means of warfare - I. Perfidy and ruses of war - II. Espionage - III. Seizure and destruction of enemy property - IV. Belligerent reprisals - 9. War crimes, command responsibility and defences - I. Definition of war crimes - II. Distinction between war criminals and unlawful combatants - III. Command responsibility - IV. Admissibile and inadmissible defences - A. Admissible defences - a. Mistake of fact - b. Mistake of law - c. Duress - d. Insanity - e. Intoxication - f. Legitimate defence of onself and others - B. Inadmissible defence pleas - a. Obedience to national law - b. Obedience to superior orders - c. Official position and immunities - C. Mitigation of punishment - General conclusions.