I think the prohibitions of land mines is not there because it prevents wars from being ended early. It’s that even after the war is ended the land mines still pose problems. There are still areas in Germany where humans don’t go because of land mines that were put there in the second World War.
Chemical weapons that cripple a lot of people who stay crippled even after the war is over also get banned. A lot of norms around war crimes are about reducing the amount of collateral damage.
I think limitations on certain classes of weapons are the sort of fake law of war which many countries haven’t signed on, those that do is because they anyways don’t use them, and when there’s a need get immediately discarded.
Meanwhile there’s a stronger core of laws which most countries for much of history have mostly kept to. That’s the more interesting aspect to talk about.
There are actions of war that are not done because there’s a need to do them. You don’t rape a city after you conquered it because you have a need for it. A lot of the more modern law of war is about preventing unneeded collateral damage.
I think the prohibitions of land mines is not there because it prevents wars from being ended early. It’s that even after the war is ended the land mines still pose problems. There are still areas in Germany where humans don’t go because of land mines that were put there in the second World War.
Chemical weapons that cripple a lot of people who stay crippled even after the war is over also get banned. A lot of norms around war crimes are about reducing the amount of collateral damage.
I think limitations on certain classes of weapons are the sort of fake law of war which many countries haven’t signed on, those that do is because they anyways don’t use them, and when there’s a need get immediately discarded.
Meanwhile there’s a stronger core of laws which most countries for much of history have mostly kept to. That’s the more interesting aspect to talk about.
There are actions of war that are not done because there’s a need to do them. You don’t rape a city after you conquered it because you have a need for it. A lot of the more modern law of war is about preventing unneeded collateral damage.