About this course
The armed conflicts in Ukraine and, more recently, the fighting in Gaza serve as real-world examples that set in motion the long-lasting debate on the constraints of international law to promote humanity and to restrain brutality on the battlefield when states and non-state actors are fighting existential struggles.
This course provides you with tools to analyze the international humanitarian regulation of armed conflict within the framework of international law, with a focus on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as well as International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and International Criminal Law (ICL). Through a mixture of readings, academic presentations, debates, and moot court exercise, you will be prepared to better understand the legal challenges of current and future armed conflicts and to critically analyze and evaluate concrete cases using legal, societal, and political approaches.
Syllabus
Faculty
Steen Kjærgaard
FacultyMaster of Arts in International Security from the University of Leicester (UK). Joint Command and Staff College (MA) 2010. Commissioned officer in 1996. In service since 1989. Multiple international deployments to conflict zones. Currently works as a military analyst focusing on security issues, including military security, Arctic geopolitics, and International Law. With DIS since 2018.
Dorthe Bach Nyemann
FacultyMaster in Politics and History from University of Copenhagen 2000. Graduated in courses on International Law at the Master of International Security and Law from the University of Southern Denmark 2015. Worked as a teacher and planner of education at the Danish Army Academy for Junior Officers from 2005 to 2015. Currently employed at the Royal Danish Defence College researching cyber security and hybrid threats. Areas of expertise as a teacher are International Relations, International Law, and the art of writing large assignments. Engaged in international working groups related to the topic of my research. With DIS since 2021.