The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Some realists claim the inter-state system can exist without international law. Some international lawyers claim international law can exist without an inter-state system.
Emile Simpson argues that international law is both an expression and a foundation of international order understood as an inter-state system: neither international order nor international law can exist without the other. This argument will be developed through a brief history of the international law of war and peace from the seventeenth century to the present day.
Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.