ABSTRACT
While the end of the Cold War reduced considerably the likelihood of violent inter-state conflicts and framed the path for America’s hegemony, the rise of asymmetric and sporadic terrorist attacks during the late 1990s unknowingly announced the changing landscape of global security. To further develop strategies for complex operations in the pursuit of global security, one should pause for a moment and revisit the very fundamental laws that have informed and continue to inform the practice of wars and the behaviors of actors during armed conflicts; known as the law of armed conflicts or humanitarian laws. In 1648, the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia opened the world to an era of organized international order with recognition of national sovereignties and the political responsibility of states. This period of state sovereignty led to the inception of international norms, which later evolved into international public laws that enforced respect in diplomatic practices and the logic of infrangibility of nations’ territorial sovereignty.
