Norm Clusters of Non-State Armed Groups : Mapping and Understanding the Limits of Warfare As Understood by Non-State Armed Groups

The proliferation of non-state armed groups and non-international armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War has challenged the legal frameworks which govern conduct in armed conflict. While aspects of international humanitarian law apply to such conflicts, international law can only go part of the way to explaining behaviour by armed groups. This book seeks to refocus discussion on the limits to armed conflict in such settings by examining the norms that underpin international humanitarian law as espoused by these armed groups to give a clearer picture as to the collectively constructed appropriateness of certain behaviours in or limits to warfare. The specific research question is “What are the norms of armed conflict as identified by non-state armed groups?” Using Winston’s norm cluster model, this study seeks to examine and map the ideations and behavioural prescriptions that constitute the armed conflict norm cluster as defined by non-state armed groups. To do this, it utilises a qualitative content analysis of documents from non-state armed groups coded to identify the different elements of this norm cluster as well as the frequency, pervasiveness, and connections between these elements. The findings showed that, while international humanitarian law is universal, these norms limiting armed conflict are not, with no norm being seen across all contexts examined. Core norms of international humanitarian law, especially those supported by norm entrepreneurs, were seen to be the focus of sub-clusters and the emergence of new parts of the norm cluster could be observed over time. The findings suggest that further work with the conceptualisation of limits to armed conflict as norms could be useful in improving the embeddedness of norms amongst non-state armed groups and could be useful in reconceptualising limits to armed conflict in cases where broadly accepted norms face growing contestation. Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction: Understanding the Relationship between International Humanitarian Action and Norms of Armed Conflict 1.1 Definition of the Puzzle and Research Question 1.2 Theoretical Framework and Roadmap References Chapter 2: Norms, Diffusion, and International Humanitarian Law 2.1 Norms 2.2 Theories of Norm Diffusion 2.3 International Law, International Humanitarian Law, and Norms 2.4 Norms in Warfare Versus Humanitarian Laws 2.5 Norms of Armed Conflict References Chapter 3: Method 3.1 Data Collection: Codes of Conduct, Orders, and Public Communications 3.2 Methodology 3.3 The Coding Frame 3.3.1 Problem 3.3.2 Ideation 3.3.3 Behaviour 3.3.4 Mitigating Factors 3.3.5 Norm Entrepreneurs 3.3.6 Accusations of non-compliance and non-reciprocity 3.4 Establishing the Validity and Applicability of the Norm Cluster 3.5 Means of Tabulating Totals 3.6 Creating an Armed Conflict Norm Cluster References Chapter 4: Non-State Armed Groups in the International System 4.1 Non-State Armed Groups 4.2 Characteristics and Influences on Non-State Armed Groups 4.2.1 Territorial Control 4.2.2 Constituencies and Populations 4.2.3 Governance and Chain of Command 4.2.4 Ability to Enter into Foreign Relations 4.2.5 Military Operations 4.2.6 Further Non-State Armed Group Characteristics 4.3 Norm Contestation and Non-State Armed Groups 4.4 Conclusion References Chapter 5: A (Brief) History of War and Its Limits 5.1 Pre-Historic Warfare 5.2 Ancient Warfare (3200 B.C.E.-600 A.D.) 5.3 Medieval Warfare (400-1500) 5.4 Early Modern Warfare (1500-1850) 5.5 Modern Warfare and International Humanitarian Law (1850-Present) 5.6 Norms in Historical Laws of Warfare References Chapter 6: Results and the Norm Clusters 6.1 Behavioural Prescriptions 6.2 Ideations 6.3 Normative Ideation-Behaviour Relationship 6.4 Document Types 6.4.1 Documents Created by the Groups 6.4.2 Agreements, Joint Statements, and Deeds of Commitment 6.5 Group Ideology 6.5.1 Ethno-nationalist 6.5.2 Leftist 6.5.3 Religious 6.6 Chronology and Context 6.6.1 Pre-1992 6.6.2 1992-2001 6.6.3 2001-2011 6.6.4 Post-2011 6.7 The Armed Conflict Norm Cluster References Chapter 7: Discussion 7.1 Norms of Warfare 7.1.1 Core Norms 7.1.2 Over-Performing Norms 7.1.3 Under-Performing Norms 7.2 Mitigating Factors 7.3 Actors and Norm Clusters 7.3.1 Non-state Armed Groups 7.3.2 Norm Entrepreneurs 7.3.3 Enemy Forces 7.3.4 Civilians 7.3.5 Implication on Norms 7.4 Conclusion References Chapter 8: The Armed Conflict Norm Cluster: Closing the Gap Between Norms and Law in Understanding Armed Conflict 8.1 Norms in Warfare 8.2 Norm Clusters and Qualitative Research 8.3 Limitations 8.4 Conclusion References