Consequences of the US Attack on a Syrian Military Base for Determining the Nature of the Syrian Armed Conflict
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18272/lr.v5i1.1225Keywords:
chemical weapons, syrian conflict, use of force, non-international conflicts, internationalized conflict, international armed conflictsAbstract
Increasingly, modern conflicts present a different level of complexity than traditional ones. This complexity is evidenced mainly through two characteristics: the disproportionate humanitarian consequences and the constant internationalization of internal conflicts through the involvement of States and external armed groups. In this sense, the conflict in Syria has not been the exception, since what was originally born as a non-international armed conflict between the State and armed groups, has evolved through the involvement of a multiplicity of external actors in support of the Syrian regime and the rebel groups. The recent events in the conflict follows this pattern as it has been confirmed that chemical weapons have been used against the civilian population and the involvement of the United States through a military operation against Syrian military infrastructure. The implications of such events for international humanitarian law ought to be analyzed, particularly, regarding its consequences for determining the nature of the conflicts that develop in Syria and based on this, the rules that would be applicable to them.
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