Upcoming Web Seminar on Civilians and Air Warfare

I’ll post my thoughts on it sometime afterward, but if any readers are interested in issues pertaining to war law and air power, you can register and listen in on a seminar at Harvard’s Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum next week. HLPF does these seminars from time to time: the topic this time is “Protecting Civilians in the New Battlespace: Challenges of Regulating Air Warfare.”

I’ve pasted the announcement below; you can register here.

This live seminar will examine legal and policy responses to the challenges of civilian protection in situations of armed conflict, specifically in the context of air warfare. Against the backdrop of the recent release of the HPCR Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare, the seminar will address the following questions:

What are the primary features, definitions and principles contained in the Manual? How do these relate to the larger framework of international humanitarian law, or the law of armed conflict?
What is the relevance for the military of the provisions of the Manual, which are a restatement of existing law applicable to air and missile warfare?
How might the Manual contribute to enhanced protection of civilians during conflict?

Panelists and participants will examine these questions by reference to the HPCR Manual and to specific situations of air warfare.