Due to their preponderance and intensity, non-international armed conflicts are currently very much in the public mind: often, more so than international armed conflicts. The present volume serves as a comprehensive introduction to the international legal regime of non-international armed conflicts, proceeding strictly in light of what the contemporary law is (as distinct from what the present author or anybody else would like it to be).

Non-international armed conflicts raise a raft of issues that need to be addressed, including in particular their preconditions, thresholds, diverse forms and configurations; the discordant perspectives of the international and domestic legal systems; as well as the application of treaty and customary law to non-State actors. In addition, it is necessary to examine the consequences of intervention by foreign States; the role of the Security Council; the effects of recognition; State responsibility for wrongdoing to the installations or nationals of foreign States, etc. The interface between the law of international and non-international armed conflicts is a matter of crucial concern. There are also numerous specific problems, from the complexities of ‘failing States’ to the recruitment and use of child-soldiers.