The UK’s Ranger Regiment: An opportunity

By Abigail Watson, Beatrice Godefroy, Rocco Blume, Camilla Molyneux, Jamie Gaskarth, Lucia Withers, and Murray Jones With the UK’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy signalling an increased  focus on building the capacity of foreign security forces, through the generation of a new Ranger Regiment, the UK has an opportunity to take stock of…

Ukraine must do more to protect civilians living close to the conflict contact line

By Beatrice Godefroy and Suleiman Mamutov On July 22, 2020, representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed to implement an enhanced ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. In the months that followed, ceasefire violations significantly decreased and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported zero conflict-related civilian casualties resulting from…

Preparedness in urban operations: a commander’s planning checklist to protect civilians

By Sahr Muhammedally May 11, 2021 – Protecting civilians in urban operations is complex. Separating military targets from civilian populations is hard in any environment, but in urban areas, the density of the population, civilian objects – such as homes and schools, hospitals, electric power grids, and water sources – magnifies the challenges. Urban environments…

Counter-Terrorism Hangover or Legal Obligation? The Requirement to Protect Civilians In War

By Sahr Muhammedally Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, in a letter to the mayor and council of Atlanta before he besieged the town in 1864, wrote, “war is cruelty and you cannot refine it.” As a practitioner whose work focuses on the protection of civilians, I have witnessed indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and both governments and…