Siege Warfare and Civilian Evacuations

About this episode

This episode explores the complexities of civilian evacuations in urban warfare and the legal obligations surrounding siege warfare.

By its very nature, urban warfare involves the presence of civilians. And when cities become battlefields, it may be necessary to evacuate noncombatants from them—either due to humanitarian imperatives or because military objectives require it. But an array of legal obligations and other considerations arise when civilians are evacuated. And because discussions of evacuations are closely linked to those surrounding the conduct of siege warfare, this raises further questions of the legal issues related to sieges and the obligations of parties on both sides of siege warfare. To explore these questions, John Spencer is joined on this episode by Laurie Blank, a clinical professor of law at Emory University School of Law, director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic, and author of the book International Conflict and Security Law.

People in this episode

Host: John Spencer

Guest: Laurie Blank

Topics covered

• urban warfare
• civilian evacuations
• siege warfare
• humanitarian law

Keywords

• legal obligations
• noncombatants
• military objectives
• International Humanitarian Law

Mentioned in this episode

Products: International Conflict and Security Law

Books & works: International Conflict and Security Law

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