Asia-Pacific Perspectives on International Humanitarian Law

Place is inextricably linked to history by way of culture, language, philosophy, faith and the development of worldviews. The richness and depth of experience of the Asia-Pacific region has been under-studied, over-simplified and under-appreciated. This book addresses that lacuna in the subject area of international humanitarian law.

Drawing on authoritative perspectives and interviews with experts in and on this topic, including four of the region's most distinguished international judges, forty-one chapters thematically examine the development of international humanitarian law; practice and application of international humanitarian law; implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law; and looking to the future and enhancing compliance with international humanitarian law. The expert contributors draw out unique features, providing fresh insights to scholarship. Contributions on and from the area also grapple with the regional commitments to humanitarianism generally, illuminating how and why international humanitarian law might be more readily accepted or ignored in armed conflicts in the region.

• The deepest, most far-reaching study of international humanitarian law in the Asia-Pacific region with forty-seven contributors drawing on a diverse range of expertise across civilian and military backgrounds and traversing policy, practice and academia
• Provides unique insights from the authors' own experience about regional armed conflicts, examining the national and regional nuances to the theory and practice of international humanitarian law and their global significance

Building on the contributors' own engagement to suggest effective strategies for improving the implementation of international humanitarian law, this collection is in itself an innovative record of the laws of war in the Asia-Pacific region.