This week on War & Peace, Olga speaks with Yale Law School professor Oona Hathaway and Crisis Group expert Brian Finucane about international humanitarian law amid widespread civilian harm, emerging military technologies, and a growing retreat from legal constraints on warfare in Ukraine and beyond.
In this episode of War & Peace, Olga is joined by Oona Hathaway, professor of international law at Yale Law School, and Brian Finucane, Crisis Group’s Senior Adviser for the U.S. program, to discuss the state of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the rules meant to protect civilians and non-combatants during wartime. They unpack how the laws of war are enforced and why rules rooted in the post-World War II Geneva Conventions remain relevant in conflicts today. They then turn to Ukraine, discussing whether Kyiv’s reliance on Western support has encouraged its restraint, Russian violations and the IHL implications of Ukraine’s growing strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and online retailers. They also examine how emerging battlefield technologies, including drones and the growing use of artificial intelligence in targeting, complicate accountability. Finally, they consider how IHL can be strengthened internationally as the Trump administration works to roll back legal constraints on warfare.
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