Law and Ethics in Armed Conflict Armed conflicts are a tragic reality. Because violence tends to inspire counter violence there is always a huge potential for escalation in violent conflicts. International humanitarian law – especially the Geneva Conventions, its Additional Protocols and conventions on weapon bans – has tried, more or less successfully, to reign in violence in armed conflicts. The protection of IHL is an important task for ethics. Armed conflicts are, however, also a changing reality. IHL takes into account a perception of conflict that, at the time of its conception, was much more voluble than today. This is especially true with regards to the role of the state and the technical capabilities of modern warfare. Non-state conflict parties, who are now often central to the conflict management process, were only indirectly tied to IHL as it was conceived as a barrier to violent conflict between state actors. How non-state actors can be held to comply with IHL is one of the biggest challenges of our time. The development of weapons technologies (i.e. armed drones) offers ways of waging war which were not predicted in IHL and which must be interpreted through these legal texts. Attempts to solidify customary law in this area must also be made. . Armed conflicts must still be contained. The criteria for this containment cannot simply be taken from the technology or the practice of violence but must be found and established through careful ethical examination. Inevitably, such a research project must therefore begin with the fundamentals of violent human interaction. In order to retain its practical desirability, the project must also consider the reality of violence perpetrated by people in violent conflicts. Within the framework of this project the following conferences (among others) have been held: On the Protection of Civilians in Washington D.C., Legitimizing Killing in War in Hamburg, The Boundaries of Violence against Opposing Combatants in Cologne, Remotely Controlled and Automated Weapons Systems in Bad Homburg and Bern (CH) as well a further workshop on military virtues in Bad Homburg. Project Supervisor PD Dr. Bernhard Koch
