War has plagued homo sapiens since the dawn of recorded history and, at almost any particular moment in the annals of the species, it appears to be raging in at least a portion of the globe (frequently, in many places at one and the same time).

War has consistently been a, perhaps the, most brutal human endeavour. If for no other reason, the subject of war should be examined and reexamined continuously. There is a tendency today to avoid the use of the term ‘war’, regarding it as arcane and largely superseded by the phrase ‘international armed conflict’. However, apart from the fact that the expression ‘war’ – appearing as it does in many international instruments and constituting an integral part of a host of customary international legal norms – is far from outdated, a general reference to international armed conflicts ignores the important theoretical as well as practical distinctions existing between wars and other uses of inter-State force (‘short of war’).

This book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with questions like: What is war? When does it commence and terminate? Is there a twilight zone between war and peace? What is the difference between treaties of peace, armistice agreements and cease-fires? Where can war be waged and what is the meaning of neutrality? These problems, with their numerous ramifications, seriously impact on the substance of international law.