Armed conflict and military activities have serious adverse impacts on the environment. Modern weaponry, troop movements, landmines, hazardous military waste, and the destruction of forests for military use are a few sources of harm to the environment both during armed conflict and peacetime military activities. Ecological assaults in combat areas are often kept a secret by the government, resulting in even greater humanitarian and environmental harm. Environmental degradation is increasingly being recognized as one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century and its effects are being felt worldwide. Both domestic and international legislations have been inadequate in mitigating the impact of military activities. This book provides details of the environmental destruction wreaked during international and non-international armed conflicts and argues that the existing legal regime for the protection of the environment during armed conflict requires substantial modification. It puts forward the view that though it is inconceivable to impose an absolute ban on environmental damage during military operations, strengthening and clarifying the existing laws protecting the environment in times of conflict, and enforcing environment-friendly practices among military forces could go a long way in protecting natural assets of our earth.

The Indian Air Force, from a humble beginning in 1932 with 4 Wapiti aircraft, six Indian officers and 22 hawai sepoys, have traversed a long journey of eighty one years and crossed noteworthy milestones to become the fourth largest air force in the world. While facing several limitations/challenges, IAF have met all the national defence requirements, and made several strategic contributions. With growing economic interests and national aspirations, expanding interests well beyond our territorial boundaries and prevailing internal security challenges, India’s national defence requirements are also increasing. The first Gulf War was a monumental turning point in the war-time employment of aerospace power. Ever since significance of aerospace power in war, crisis and peace time has been gaining ascendency. Kosovo and Libya are the two pertinent examples of the allies virtually relying on aerospace power, without committing any soldiers on the ground. Scrutiny of the emerging global and national trends suggests that employment of the aerospace assets, as well as nation’s expectation from the IAF, will continue to rise. Alongside, there is an unplanned fall in flying platforms, weapon systems and pilot strength of the IAF. This study is an attempt to analyse the history of the IAF in war as well as ‘other than war operations’; to appreciate the emerging trends in geopolitics, aerospace technology and doctrine; and to identify the likely challenges IAF would be facing in the next two decades and beyond. Road map for transformation of the national security framework, indigenous aerospace industry and the IAF has also been suggested.

This report inventories and analyses the range of international laws that protect the environment during armed conflict. With a view to identifying the current gaps and weaknesses in this system, the authors examine the relevant provisions within four bodies of international law - environmental humanitarian (IHL), international criminal law (ICL), international environmental law (IEL), and international human rights law (HRL). The report concludes with twelve concrete recommendations on ways to strengthen this legal framework and its enforcement. The Environment and Natural Resources are crucial for building and consolidating peace, it is urgent that their protection in times of armed conflict be strengthened. There can be no durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods are damaged or destroyed. This report provides a basis upon which Member States can draw upon to clarify, expand and enforce international law on environmental protection in times of war.

'Environmental Protection, Security and Armed Conflict is a timely reminder of the need to integrate sustainable development into key areas of international law, including all phases of armed conflict. Onita Das cleverly picks her way through the applicable law and derives solid suggestions for the future.' – Karen Hulme, University of Essex, UK This book explores environmental protection relevant to security and armed conflict from a sustainable development perspective. The author details how at each stage of the armed conflict life cycle, policy, law and enforcement have fallen short of the sustainable development model and concludes with a set of suggestions for how to address this pressing concern. The book considers and discusses: • Environmental protection relevant to security and armed conflict from a holistically sustainable development perspective. • Environmental protection relevant to security and armed conflict in the life cycle of armed conflict: pre-conflict, in-conflict and post-conflict • Uses substantive sustainable development principles (duty of states to ensure sustainable use of natural resources; equity and the eradication of poverty; common but differentiated responsibilities; precautionary principle; public participation; good governance; integration and interrelationship; and polluter pays principle) as tools or objectives to achieve sustainable development in the context of environmental protection relevant to security and armed conflict. • The concept of sustainable development is utilized to fill the gaps left by policy and law in the field of environmental protection relevant to security and armed conflict. The book also examines 5 case-studies relating to Somalia, Darfur, Sudan, Sierra Leone, the First Gulf war and the Kosovo conflict. This fascinating and detailed study will strongly appeal to academics and postgraduate students in the fields of both environmental protection and international law, researchers, policy-makers, NGOs and individuals working in the field.

This book analyses the issues surrounding the protection of the environment in times of armed conflict, and to pose questions as to its adequacy and efficacy. But the focus is not simply upon the interpretation of the legal provisions in isolation; instead, the analysis establishes a benchmark standard of environmental harm against which the adequacy and efficacy of the legal provisions can be measured.

This timely study examines how the environmental impact of modern warfare violates fundamental principles of international environmental and humanitarian laws and why these consideration need to be included in rules of armed conflict. If direct attacks on innocent civilians are universally recognized as unacceptable then environ-mental devastation of their habitat by acts of war must also be recognized as an unacceptable consequence of armed conflict. The author presents the case that the international community understand its responsibility to curb environ-mental consequences of modern weaponry and incorporate environmental concerns into the conventions regulating armed conflict. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

A companion volume to the author's textbook War, Aggression and Self-Defence, Third Edition (Cambridge 2001), this book focuses on issues arising in the course of hostilities between States, emphasizing the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Main themes considered are lawful and unlawful combatants, war crimes (including command responsibility and defenses), prohibited weapons, the distinction between combatants and civilians, legitimate military objectives, and the protection of the environment and cultural property. Many specific topics that have attracted much interest in recent hostilities are also addressed. Also available: War, Aggression and Self-Defence 0-521-79344-0 Hardback $110.00 C 0-521-79758-6 Paperback $40.00 D

Engaging with one of the most consequential issues of our time, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of responsibility for environmental damage under international law. In doing so, it considers the responsibility, liability and accountability of state and non-state actors for harm caused to the environment and non-compliance with environmental norms across a wide range of multilateral regulatory frameworks.

This book was first published in 2001. The Kosovo Conflict and International Law provides international lawyers, scholars and students with access to material on the conflict in Kosovo. As well as the basic material relating to Kosovo's status in Yugoslavia before 1999, this volume reproduces the significant documentation on the following issues: the development of the human rights situation, the diplomatic efforts for the settlement of the crisis, the military action against Yugoslavia and the international community's response, court action with regard to the conflict, and the implementation of the principles for a political solution with an international civil and security presence in Kosovo. Dr Krieger's analytical introduction provides the historical and political context as well as an overview of the various legal aspects of the conflict. A chronology and detailed index make the documents more accessible.

The book rethinks the means of harmonization of prima facie norm conflicts in light of the multitude of international agreements across regimes. The methodology deployed in this book, which is referred to as complementation or complementary application, represents a novel approach by focusing on commonly shared objectives and a unifying ordre public transnational across fields of public international law that allow for a harmonization beyond traditional treaty interpretation. Fields of public international law, mainly the laws of armed conflict, international environmental law, and human rights law, apply simultaneously to questions regarding the environment and war. Such a coexistence challenges the unity of the international legal order, and it also challenges the means of harmonization across fields of public international law. However, eventually, the co-existence of several fields of public international law can result in a refinement of international law and enhanced legal protection. Diversification can also contribute to clarification or normative intensification in areas of parallel application of various fields and multilayered legal protection, demonstrating a counter-option to fragmentation.