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SYLLABUS
Law in the Gray Zone: Legal Challenges of Hybrid Conflict
Georgetown University Law Center
LAWG-3031-10
LAWJ-3031-10
Todd Huntley
Fall 2016
Course Description. State actors are increasingly pursuing their national objectives through the
use of aggressive, ambiguous, and integrated multiple elements of power. This strategy, which
exceeds the threshold of normal national competition but falls below the level of armed conflict,
has been referred to as hybrid, unconventional, asymmetric, and ambiguous warfare. Activities
conducted by State and non-State actors in the gray zone between peace and armed conflict
presents significant legal challenges in how States respond to these threats.
This course will examine the legal challenges presented by this conflict in the gray zone. We will
examine issues in legal classification of threats and how State and non-State actors employ these
strategies to exploit perceived gaps in international and domestic law. Additionally, we will
discuss how these actors may also use the law when pursuing their objectives in the gray zone.
Course Meeting. Seven two hour sessions on Fridays 1:20 pm to 3:20 pm in McDonough 160.
First class meeting September 9, 2016, last class meeting October, 21 2016.
Course Materials. Materials for this course will be available from open sources online or will
be uploaded to the course’s Canvas site. The recommended readings will help give you more
background on the factual and legal issues discussed in class and are presented for your reading
should you have the interest and extra time, but are not required. The readings listed below may
be revised during the semester depending on current events, class progression, and areas of
particular interest developed during the course.
Grading and Attendance. Student grades will be based on a combination of a group in-class
presentation (75%) and class participation (25%). Due to the abbreviated course schedule,
attendance is important. Students who miss more than one class should expect a reduced final
grade.
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Session 1, September 9th: What is the Gray Zone? Describing and Identifying the Threat.
Required reading:
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United States Special Operations Command White Paper: The Gray Zone, September 9,
2015 (Available on Canvas).
What is Hybrid Conflict?, Ben Wittes, Lawfare blog, September 11, 2015,
https://lawfareblog.com/what-hybrid-conflict.
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Legal Aspects of Hybrid Warfare, Aurel Sari, Lawfare blog post, October 2, 2015,
https://www.lawfareblog.com/legal-aspects-hybrid-warfare.
Confessions of a Hybrid Warfare Skeptic, Christopher Paul, Small Wars Journal, March
3, 2016, http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/confessions-of-a-hybrid-warfare-skeptic.
Paradoxes of the Gray Zone, Hal Brands, Foreign Policy Research Institute, February 5,
2016, http://www.fpri.org/article/2016/02/paradoxes-gray-zone/.
Congress Has Embraced Unconventional Warfare: Will the US Military and The Rest of
the US Government?, David Maxwell, Small Wars Journal, December 29, 2015
(Available on Canvas).
On Not-So-New-Warfare: Political Warfare vs. Hybrid Threats, Frank Hoffman, War on
the Rocks, July 28, 2014, http://warontherocks.com/2014/07/on-not-so-new-warfarepolitical-warfare-vs-hybrid-threats/.
Russian Hybrid Warfare and Other Dark Arts, Michael Kofman, War on the Rocks,
March 11, 2016, http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/russian-hybrid-warfare-and-otherdark-arts/.
Mastering the Gray Zone: Understanding A Changing Era of Conflict, Michael Mazarr,
Strategic Studies Institute and US Army War College Press, December 2015, pp. 55-67
and 72-74 (Available on Canvas).
Recommended reading/listening:
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The National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2015 (Available on
Canvas).
The Lawfare Podcast: Richard Gross on the Law of Hybrid Conflict, Cody Poplin,
Lawfare blog, September 19, 2015, https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcastrichard-gross-law-hybrid-conflict.
NATO vs. Russia: How to Counter the Hybrid Warfare Challenge, Dan Goure, July 7,
2016, The National Interest, July 7, 2016, http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/natovs-russia-how-counter-the-hybrid-warfare-challenge-16874.
The New Generation of Russian Warfare, Janis Berzinš, Aspen Review Central Europe,
Vol. 3, 2014, http://www.aspeninstitute.cz/en/article/3-2014-the-new-generation-ofrussian-warfare/.
America Did Hybrid Warfare Too, Todd Greentree, War on the Rocks, April 7, 2015,
http://warontherocks.com/2015/04/america-did-hybrid-warfare-too/.
Towards the Next Defence and Security Review: Part Two – NATO, UK House of
Commons Defence Committee, Third Report of Session 2014-15, July 31, 2014
(Available on Canvas).
Mastering the Gray Zone: Understanding A Changing Era of Conflict, Michael Mazarr,
Strategic Studies Institute and US Army War College Press, December 2015 (Available
on Canvas).
Operating in the Gray Zone: An Alternative Paradigm for US Military Strategy, Strategic
Studies Institute and US Army War College Press, April 2016 (Available on Canvas).
Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars, Frank Hoffman, Potomac Institute
for Policy Studies, December 2007 (Available on Canvas).
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Hybrid Warfare – Does It Even Exist?, Dr. Damien Van Puyvelde, NATO Review, 2015,
http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2015/Also-in-2015/hybrid-modern-future-warfarerussia-ukraine/EN/.
Session 2, September 16th: Sovereignty and non-intervention – Economic Measures,
Support to Civil Society and Opposition Political Groups.
Required reading:
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Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. US), paras.
1, 10, and 15-24 (background), 202-203, 205-209, 212-214 (discussion of sovereignty
and principle of non-intervention under international law), 87-91 and 251 (overflight of
Nicaraguan territory as a violation of sovereignty), 123-125, 239, 244-245, and 276
(economic measures as a violation of principle of non-intervention) (Available on
Canvas).
Corfu Channel IILJ case synopsis, (Available on Canvas).
UN General Assembly Resolution 36/103, Declaration on the Inadmissibility of
Intervention and Interference in the International Affairs of States, 9 December 1981,
http://www.un-documents.net/a36r103.htm.
The Law of Economic Sanctions, Paul Szasz, International Law Studies Vol. 71, 456,
1998, pp. 456-459, https://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/721cb2a7-876b-4cbf-91a34cbc19f1a593/The-Law-of-Economic-Sanctions.aspx.
Article 41, UN Charter, http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-vii/index.html.
Fifth-Generation Warfare: Taste the Color Revolution Rainbow, Ryan Faith, Vice News,
June 6, 2014, https://news.vice.com/article/fifth-generation-warfare-taste-the-colorrevolution-rainbow.
Closing the Door on Aid: Restrictions on Foreign Funding of Civil Society, Rebecca B.
Vernon, International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, Vol. 11 no. 4, August 2009, pp. 1925, http://www.icnl.org/research/journal/vol11iss4/vol11iss4.pdf.
Political Activities of NGOs: International Law and Best Practices, International Journal
of Not-for-Profit Law, Vol. 12 no. 1, November 2009, pp. 5-10,
http://www.icnl.org/research/journal/vol12iss1/v12n1.pdf.
Recommended reading:
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UN General Assembly Resolution 25/2625, Declaration on Principles of International
Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-Operation Among States in Accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1970, http://www.undocuments.net/a25r2625.htm.
Respect for Sovereignty, Use of Force and the Principle of Non-intervention in the
Internal Affairs of Other States, Natalino Ronzitti, European Leadership Network 2015,
http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/medialibrary/2016/04/05/90287197/ELN%20
Narratives%20Conference%20-%20Ronzitti.pdf.
The Corfu Channel Case, Judgment of April 9, 1949, I.C.J. Reports pp. 12-15 (facts
related to 1st question), 26-36, (Available on Canvas).
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S.S. Lotus, France v. Turkey, Permanent Court of International Justice 7th September
1927, Series A no. 10, ICGJ 248 (PCIJ 1927) paras. 35-46 and 55,
http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:icgj/248pcij27.case.1/law-icgj-248pcij27.
Low Intensity Cyber Operations and the Principle of Non-intervention, Sean Watts
(Available on Canvas).
The International Law of Unconventional Statecraft, Michael N. Schmitt and Andru E.
Wall, 5 Harvard National Security Journal 349(2014), pp. 352-356,
http://harvardnsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Schmitt-Wall-International-Law-ofUnconventional-Statecraft.pdf.
The Dutch Just Showed the World How Russia Influences Western European Elections,
Anne Applebaum, Washington Post, April 8, 2016,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russias-influence-in-westernelections/2016/04/08/b427602a-fcf1-11e5-886f-a037dba38301 story.html?tid=a inl.
The Right to Intervene, Lloyd Cutler, Foreign Affairs, September 1, 1985 (Available on
Canvas).
What are Economic Sanctions?, Jonathan Masters, CFR Backgrounder, Council on
Foreign Relations, April 8, 2015, http://www.cfr.org/sanctions/economicsanctions/p36259.
Sanctions and International Law, W. Michael Reisman, Faculty Scholarship Series, Paper
3864, 2009,
http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4869&context=fss_paper
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Session 3, September 23rd: Sovereignty and non-intervention (cont.) – Intelligence
Activities, Propaganda, and Covert Action; Use of Force and Armed Attack – the 2(4)/51
“Gap”.
Required reading:
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An International Legal Framework for Surveillance, Ashley Deeks, pp. 300-313,
https://www.ilsa.org/jessup/jessup16/Batch%202/DeeksLegalFramework.pdf.
Propaganda for War and Transparency, Richard B. Collins, 87 Denver University Law
Review 819 (2010), pp. 819-831, http://www.law.du.edu/documents/denver-universitylaw-review/v87-4/Collins FINAL.pdf.
Draft International Code of Conduct for Information Security, January 13, 2015, pp. 3-6,
https://ccdcoe.org/sites/default/files/documents/UN-150113-CodeOfConduct.pdf.
50 U.S.C. §3093, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3093.
Articles 2(4) and 51, UN Charter, http://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charterfull-text/index.html.
Articles 4 and 5, The North Atlantic Treaty,
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm.
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. US), paras.
187-195, 227-230, 242, and 246-252 (Available on Canvas).
The International Law of Unconventional Statecraft, Michael N. Schmitt and Andru E.
Wall, 5 Harvard National Security Journal 349(2014), pp. 356-367 and 370-371,
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http://harvardnsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Schmitt-Wall-International-Law-ofUnconventional-Statecraft.pdf.
Recommended reading:
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Information Aggression and International Law Perspectives: Ukraine V. Russia Case,
Andrii Paziuk and Olga Kyryliuk, pp. 16-19, http://salfordmediafestival.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/11/Information-Aggression-and-International-LawPerspectives Ukraine-v.-Russia-Case.pdf.
Impunity of Agents in International Law, M.C. Miskovsky, CIA Historical Review
Program, 22 Sept 93, https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-ofintelligence/kent-csi/vol5no2/html/v05i2a10p_0001.htm.
Memorandum From the General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency to Director
of Central Intelligence Hillenkoetter, September 25, 1947 (authority for the CIA to
conduct black propaganda and other acts),
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d241.
Spies Without Borders: International Law and Intelligence Collection, Craig Forcese,
Journal of National Security Law &Policy 197-205, http://jnslp.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/06/05 Forceses.pdf.
Articles 19 and 20, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx.
Article III, The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CrimeOfGenocide.aspx.
Article 109, UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Unauthorized Broadcasting,
http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part7.htm.
Article 4, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD),
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspx.
Article 13, Freedom of Thought and Expression, American Convention on Human
Rights, http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/expression/showarticle.asp?artID=25&.
The Danger of Russian Disinformation, Anne Applebaum and Edward Lucas,
Washington Post, May 6, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-dangerof-russian-disinformation/2016/05/06/b31d9718-12d5-11e6-89677ac733c56f12 story.html.
The Present Status of Propaganda in International Law, Arthur Larson, 31 Law and
Contemporary Problems 439 (Summer 1966),
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3117&context=lcp.
Browse materials at Center for European Policy Analysis Information Warfare Initiative,
http://infowar.cepa.org/index/.
Session 4, September 30th: State Responsibility and Attribution – Surrogates, Covert
Action, and Cyber; Distinction and the Law of Armed Conflict.
Required reading:
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Materials on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Actions, Book 25,
United Nations Legislative Series, pp. 27-30, 70-81, 304-312
http://legal.un.org/legislativeseries/book25.html.
State Responsibility for the Acts of Private Armed Groups, Derek Jinks, 4 Chicago
Journal of International Law (2003), pp. 6-11,
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=391641.
Executive Order 12333, paras. 2.11 and 2.12, https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-123332008.pdf.
International Law Association Committee on the Use of Force, Final Report on the
Meaning of Armed Conflict in International Law, Hague Conference Report 2010, pp. 19, 28-32 available at (http://www.ila-hq.org/en/committees/index.cfm/cid/1022).
Controlling the Use of Power in the Shadows: Challenges in the Application of Jus in
Bello to Clandestine and Unconventional Warfare Activities, Todd Huntley and Andrew
Levitz, 5 Harvard National Security Journal 461 (2014), http://harvardnsj.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/Huntley-Levitz-Controlling-the-Use-of-Power-in-theShadows.pdf.
Recommended reading:
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Intervention By States and Privates Groups in the Internal Affairs of Another State,
Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel Opinion, April 12, 1961 (Available on
Canvas).
The Nicaragua and Tadić Tests Revisited in Light of the ICJ Judgment on Genocide in
Bosnia, Antonio Cassese, European Journal of International Law Vol. 18 No. 4 2007,
http://www.ejil.org/pdfs/18/4/233.pdf.
Session 5, October 7th: State Responses to Gray Zone Threats – Countermeasures,
retorsion, reprisals, and use of domestic law.
Required Reading:
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Customary International Humanitarian Law Rule 145, Reprisals, International Committee
of the Red Cross, https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1 rul rule145.
Yearbook of the International Law Commission 2001, Vol. II Part 2, pp. 128-139,
http://legal.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/english/ilc_2001_v2_p2.pdf.
Materials on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Actions, Book 25,
United Nations Legislative Series, pp. 304-338,
http://legal.un.org/legislativeseries/book25.html.
Russia: Bill Approved to Allow Foreign Organizations to be Declared Undesirable,
Global Legal Monitor, Library of Congress, February 24, 2015,
http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/russia-bill-approved-to-allow-foreignorganizations-to-be-declared-undesirable/.
Recommended Reading:
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The Impact of the ILC’s Articles on State Responsibility for Internationally Wrongful
Acts, Simon Olleson, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 2007, pp.
267-280,
http://www.biicl.org/files/3107 impactofthearticlesonstate responsibilitypreliminarydraft
final.pdf.
The Role of Proportionality in the Law of International Countermeasures, Enzo
Cannizzaro, 12 European Journal of International Law 889 (2001),
http://www.cannizzaro-sapienza.eu/sites/default/files/pubblicazione allegato/2001%20%20The%20Role%20of%20Proportionality%20in%20the%20Law%20of%20Internation
al%20Countermeasures.pdf.
Does One Illegality Merit Another? The Law of Belligerent Reprisals in International
Law, Andrew D. Mitchell, Military Law Review Vol.170, p. 155, 2001,
http://www.pegc.us/ LAW /Volume170Mitchell.pdf.
Foreign Agents Registration Act Frequently Asked Questions, Department of Justice,
https://www.fara.gov/fara-faq.html.
Winning the Information War: Techniques and Counter-Strategies to Russian Propaganda
in Central and Eastern Europe, Edward Lucas and Peter Pomeranzev, August 2016,
https://lif.blob.core.windows.net/lif/docs/default-source/publications/winning-theinformation-war-full-report-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=2.
Session 6, October 14th: Lawfare.
Required reading:
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Lawfare: A Decisive Element of 21st Century Conflicts? Charles Dunlap, Joint Forces
Quarterly, Issue 54, 3rd Quarter 2009 (Available on Canvas).
Lawfare and U.S. National Security, Orde Kittrie, 43 Case Western Reserve Journal of
International Law 393 (2011),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id=1779562.
Kosovo, South Ossetia, and Crimea: the Legal Rhetoric of Intervention, Recognition, and
Annexation, Chris Borgen, Opinio Juris blog, April 2, 2014,
http://opiniojuris.org/2014/04/02/kosovo-south-ossetia-crimea-legal-rhetoricintervention-recognition-annexation/.
Recommended reading:
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Law, Rhetoric, Strategy: Russia and Self-determination Before and After Crimea,
Christopher J. Borgen, International Law Studies, Vol. 91, 218, 2015,
http://stockton.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1262&context=ils.
Lawfare Today . . . and Tomorrow, Charles Dunlap, International Law Studies Vol. 87,
315-322, 2011, http://stockton.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&context=ils.
Session 7, October 21st: In-class presentations of special projects.
Required reading:
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US Political Warfare Policy (Draft) January 2015 (Available on Canvas).
Policy Planning Staff Memorandum, George Kennan, May 4, 1948,
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/johnson/65ciafounding3.htm.
Political Warfare, Policy Innovation Memorandum No. 33, Boot, Kirkpatrick, and Doran,
Council on Foreign Relations, June 7, 2013 (Available on Canvas).
Recommended reading:
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SOF Support to Political Warfare White Paper, US Army Special Operations Command,
10 March 2015, (Available on Canvas).
Political Warfare as Grand Strategy, Craig Beutel, The Strategy Bridge, June 3, 2016,
http://www.thestrategybridge.com/the-bridge/2016/6/3/political-warfare-as-grandstrategy.
How World War II Became Possible, Max Fischer, Vox, June 29, 2015,
http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8845913/russia-war.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin’s War in Ukraine, Maksymilian Czuperski, John Herbst, et.
al., Atlantic Counsel, May 2015,
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Hiding in Plain Sight/HPS English.
pdf.
Browse Bellingcat case studies, https://www.bellingcat.com/category/resources/casestudies/.
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