Big Ideas War is changing and the laws meant to protect civilians aren't cutting it anymore
Feb 2, 2026
Oona Hathaway, Yale professor of international law and founder of the Center for Global Legal Challenges, discusses how rules meant to shield civilians are breaking down. She traces the history of humanitarian law, examines how technology and 9/11 reshaped who can be targeted, and explores dual-use infrastructure and crowdsourced targeting risks. She closes with ideas for rebuilding protections and limiting the scope of wartime force.
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How The Civilian Was Invented
- International humanitarian law arose alongside standing armies to protect noncombatants by creating the category of "civilians."
- This legal turn reduced accepted violence against noncombatants compared with earlier eras where civilians were legitimate targets.
First Aerial Bombing And Its Warning
- Giulio Gavotti performed the first aerial bombardment by literally tossing grenades from an open plane.
- One of the bombs reportedly fell on a hospital, foreshadowing civilian harm from airpower.
Airpower Redefined The Battlefield
- Airpower shattered the defended-vs-undefended city framework and birthed notions like military objectives and proportionality.
- Those 1923 concepts still shape modern targeting law despite technological change.
