When the Law of War Fails (E132)

When the Law of War Fails (E132)

From The Ancient Art of Modern Warfare by Chris Mayer National Security and Strategy Consultant

March 29, 2026 · 11 min · Episode 133

About this episode

Chris Mayer discusses the relevance of the Law of War in modern conflicts and the implications of its violations by various state and non-state actors.

I believe that the Law of War remains valid in modern warfare and is essential to establishing peace after war. Despite that belief we see States such as Russia and Iran and non-state groups such as Hamas operate in a manner that looks like violating the most fundamental aspects of the law of war, including deliberate targeting of civilians, to be an objective rather than a restriction. In this episode of the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare I propose some reasons for this and insist that, in the end, it will be counterproductive to achieving success. The material in these podcasts are my own opinion and do not represent the official opinion of the Department of Defense or any other organization I have been or I am currently associated with References: “The Law of War: Not Dead Yet,” Episode 56 of the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare Clausewitz, C. von, Howard, M. E., Paret, P., & Clausewitz, C. (1984). On war. Princeton University Press. of Defense, DoD Law of War Manual, June 2015, Updated July 2023 Music Kiilstofte, J., The Cavalry, Machinamasound (Licensed)

People in this episode

Host: Chris Mayer

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Department of Defense, Hamas, Russia, Iran

Books & works: On war, The Law of War: Not Dead Yet

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