In recent years, armed conflicts have changed in nature (civil war, ‘terrorism’) and the means used are increasingly technological (robotisation, cyberwar). Faced with these developments, some would claim International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is outdated. While these technological innovations present new challenges in the application of IHL, it still constitutes a relevant legal framework for armed conflicts and the conduct of hostilities. Indeed, the flexibility of IHL allows it to adapt to contemporary conflicts. Therefore, this shows that the statements about its obsolescence are primarily political in nature.

This article examines the use of American military power in the Middle East during the presidency of Barack Obama. While some have characterized those responses as confusing, inconsistent, and/or inadequate in number, this study argues that there is a way to understand and explain Obama’s decisions, the “Obama Doctrine”. The article develops and applies the Doctrine to America’s use of force, or not, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and elsewhere.

“Little war” of Russia and Georgia and the start of the drone armor race

This article examines drone usage by Russia and Georgia in Five-Day War during 2008. Rapidly increasing the use of lethal drones profoundly shapes the ability of various countries and armed groups to wage war. This could have serious consequences for regional security. The rapidly increasing use of drones and robots as well as data-driven military analysis are likely to have a significant impact on the future of hostilities in military operations. In this article, the authors want to answer the most important questions related to this five-day war: what were the causes of Russo-Georgian war, who started this war, who were the winners of this war and who lost it, who helped to end this war. Authors emphasize that the war showed weaknesses in NATO and EU security systems, as they did not react effectively to the forced border change and Russia’s territory occupation of an independent state. The war also showed cracks in Europe between Western powers that wanted to maintain good relations with Russia and Eastern European Countries at the same time.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - a Lethal Weapon of Tomorrow for Terrorists

Terrorism has been used as a form of combat for centuries. Over the years, the tools used by terrorists have evolved. While attacks with cold weapons still take place, nowadays terrorists also use explosives, machine guns, guided missiles and increasingly often drones. The present growth of the arms market has led to terrorist groups being heavily militarized, as they can successfully acquire modern weapons and subsequently use them in their attacks. This state of affairs has directly affected the security of states and societies, and subsequently became a principal subject of discussion on international security forums. Contemporary global terrorist threats also harness artificial intelligence that supports weaponized robots, missiles, as well as clusters of killer drones. This narrative arose a few years ago, indicating that terrorists may have a vastly greater array of options at their disposal because they may cooperate with some states that would back them up. The chance for terrorist organisations to gain access to artificial intelligence technologies only increased due to the global competition surrounding it. Due to this potential spreading, terrorists will have a chance to operate weapons supported by AI. These events then merge into a deeply concerning scenario which conceivably may have to be confronted. The threat of terrorist organisations possessing and using swarms of drones does not seem to be very distant.

Drone War as the Permanent State of Emergency

In 2001 began the so-called war on terror which gave rise to numerous and so far unknown strategies and technologies. One of the most important of them are military drones. Initially used for reconnaissance and looking for targets, they quickly became deadly weapons that change the course of war. Death in military conflicts, once inflicted directly by humans, today is inflicted indirectly by advanced technologies. Automated, mathematical algorithms make decisions whether an individual should live or be eliminated in the name of public security. In this article I prove that inflicting death through military drones is not just another war tactic but a new paradigm which may lead to the transformation of legal and political regime of Western countries. I analyze this paradigm in the light of Carl Schmitt’s category of the “state of exception”. I characterize the new methods of controlling law and governing population by Giorgio Agamben’s concept of “inclusive exclusion”.