PhD student of VU Law Faculty, Alaa Al Dakour Al Aridi will defend his dissertation, written on topic ,,The Problem of Hybrid War in International Law”.
The thesis addresses the legal complexity of hybrid war to international law on the use of force and international humanitarian law. Contemporary hybrid warfare poses threats to the legal order based on a combination of military and non-military means. As such, the thesis focuses on the threats originating from cyber attacks and non-state armed groups, addressing by that the legal challenges that state or non-actors exploit deliberately to strengthen their own positions and undermine the position of their adversaries.
That said, the thesis is devoted to underlining the changing nature of conflicts, challenging elements of hybrid warfare that do reach the level of physical damage “cyber attacks and non-state armed groups”. And for the sake of deeper legal analysis, the thesis focuses on the prohibition on the use of force in international law “jus ad Bellum” and its limited exceptions, the legal basis of attribution that is highly relevant to the nature of hybrid threats, the principle of sovereignty, non-intervention, and non-interference in international law. Moreover, the research focuses on the emergence of hybrid warfare in contemporary armed conflicts by which its hybrid nature is exceptional, and by that it highlights the applicability of jus in Bello to hybrid warfare, classification of armed conflicts and its geographic limitation, and principle of distinction that is pertinent due to the legal confusion imposed by cyber operations and non-state armed groups. The thesis seeks to reveal whether current international law can address the challenges of hybrid war.
Defense information
Defense will be held in English language, on November 23rd, from 11:00 am at Kazimieras Leonas Sapiega (302) classroom in the VU Law Faculty. As well it is possible to watch defense online (link).
Dissertation was written in Vilnius University, during period of 2015 – 2022 years. It is open for reading, link is there.