Abstract

Chapter One: Thematic Essays Armed conflict profoundly affects the security of states and people. For a state, the deployment of military force in the pursuit or defence of its objectives is a grave decision with potentially ruinous consequences. Armed conflicts result in the loss of life, the displacement of civilian populations and the destruction of national infra- structure. Domestically, they exert a material effect by disrupting the political order or posing an existential challenge to the state. Internationally, they can have a pro- found impact on international relations and the formulation and conduct of defence and security policy. We define armed conflict to be a sustained contest between two or more organ- ised adversaries, making purposive use of armed force. Crucially, it involves combat, rather than the one-sided application of lethal force. The qualities that make a conflict sustained are duration and intensity. Ordinarily, we recognise an armed conflict after it has run for at least three months and that fea- tures combat on a weekly or fortnightly basis. In the case of military conflicts between state actors which feature substantial levels of military mobilisation, simultaneous armed clashes and significant fatalities, the duration threshold may be relaxed. To be