F1IS 4175 - Legal Metamorphosis of War

War does not escape the transformations global governance has experienced in the past decades.

Core to the project of international law throughout the 20th century, peace holds a central role in the development of legal regimes aiming at governing violence. But the promise of peace is being increasingly sided by an adjacent, concurrent project, one that promises a more secure world, where risks are measured, forecasted and mitigated. Based on case studies, the course explores this transformation fostering a broader reflection on the changing role of law in constructing and distributing violence at the global level. The course offers an opportunity to reflect on the legal governance of violence, war and security from a critical perspective and draws on global and international law, international humanitarian law, human rights law, law and technology, as well as legal theory.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and assess global legal frameworks regulating global violence

2. Develop knowledge on current legal issues in global security law

3. Evaluate and interpret different normative tools in their relation to their effects and object

4. Understand the stakes of the transformation of legal and normative approaches for global security

5. Think about global legal issues in a prospective manner

6. Produce an in-depth reflection using together theoretical and practical case-based approaches to law and normativity

Professional Skills

1. develop analytical and creative skills in law

2. collaborate constructively in addressing and understanding complex issues

3. acquire experience in prospective legal thinking

4. develop intellectual flexibility using a variety of sources and materials to produce an informed reasoning

Delphine DOGOT
Séminaire
English
- In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester

- Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 48 hours a semester

- Research and Preparation for Group Work: 1 hour a week / 24 hours a semester

- Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 1 hour a week / 24 hours a semester

None.

Autumn 2025-2026
10% Individual oral participation (throughout the semester)

30% Individual written work: 700 words response paper (once during the semester)

30%. Collective creative work (once during of the semester)

30% Book review (end of the semester)

Timely detailed assessment based on evaluation grids adjusted to each assignment and constructive peer assessment feedback

Evaluation grids templates are provided at the beginning of the semester

Nathaniel Berman, Privileging Combat? Contemporary Conflict and the LegalConstruction of War, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 43, Issue 1, 2004.
David Kennedy, Lawfare and Warfare in Cambridge Companion to International Law, James Crawford and Martti Koskenniemi (eds) , Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Gavin Sullivan, Transnational Legal Assemblages and Global Security Law: Topologies and Temporalities of the List, (2014), Transnational Legal Theory, pp. 81-127
Louise Amoore, Rita Raley, Securing with algorithms: Knowledge, decision, sovereignty, Security Dialogue 48 (1), 3-10, 2017
Naz K. Modirzadeh, Cut These Words: Passion and International Law of War Scholarship, 61 Harv. Int'l L.J. 1, 2020.