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International Law in an Age of Geopolitical Competition

Module description

In this module, you will study how international law deals with contemporary forms of strategic competition below the threshold of war. Today, we live in a climate of renewed geopolitical rivalry between great powers and other actors, such as China, Iran, Russia and the United States. Much of this strategic competition takes place below the level of direct military confrontation and instead targets national vulnerabilities through subversion, interference and political warfare, for example in the form of election interference, misinformation, weaponized migration or small-scale coercion as seen in the South China Sea. This module provides you with a rare opportunity to learn more about strategic confrontation short of war, the legal difficulties it raises and its impact on the rules-based international order.

Prior knowledge of the international law of armed conflict and the use of force is recommended but not required.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to deepen your understanding of international conflict and security law by studying the legal questions posed by strategic competition, with a particular focus on current developments and controversies. The module thus complements other modules on the use of force and armed conflict to provide you with a more comprehensive and cutting-edge understanding of the legal aspects of the contemporary security environment. This will be of particular benefit to those interested in further study or practice in this field.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. demonstrate detailed knowledge of the core concepts, principles and rules of international conflict and security law with a particular emphasis on legal questions arising below the threshold of war;
• 2. demonstrate critical understanding of the practical and conceptual challenges arising in the implementation of international conflict and security law.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. demonstrate flexible and innovative ability to develop, apply and critically assess international legal arguments, using a wide range of appropriate primary materials and advanced scholarship;
• 4. select, integrate, evaluate and present relevant law and complex legal arguments, clearly, autonomously and competently.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. manage relevant learning resources and complex information confidently and independently, and to develop own arguments and opinions at a very high level;
• 6. communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately;
• 7. work independently, within a limited time frame, to complete a specified task.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the precise content of the module may vary from year to year in response to current developments, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover the legal aspects of all or some of the following topics:

• status quo powers, revisionists and international order;
• hybrid threats, political warfare and grey zone conflict;
• legal thresholds between war and peace;
• foreign interference and subversion;
• economic warfare;
• lawfare and legal competition;
• instrumentalized migration.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Galeotti, The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War (Yale University Press, 2022);
• Kittrie, Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War (Oxford University Press, 2016);
• Paterson and Hanley, ‘Political Warfare in the Digital Age: Cyber Subversion, Information Operations and ‘Deep Fakes’’ (2020) 74 Australian Journal of International Affairs 439;
• Sari, ‘Legal Resilience in an Era of Grey Zone Conflicts and Hybrid Threats’ (2020) 33 Cambridge Review of International Affairs 846;
• Baade, ‘Fake News and International Law’ (2019) 29 European Journal of International Law 1357
• Cormac and Aldrich, ‘Grey is the New Black: Covert Action and Implausible Deniability’ (2018) 94 International Affairs 477
• Jamnejad and Wood, ‘The Principle of Non-intervention’ (2009) 22 Leiden Journal of International Law 345
• Giannopoulos, Smith and Theocharidou, The Landscape of Hybrid Threats: A Conceptual Model (Public Version) (Publications Office of the European Union, 2021).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE (https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/)
• Just Security (blog): https://www.justsecurity.org/
• European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats: https://www.hybridcoe.fi/

Key words search

law of armed conflict, use of force, modern warfare, urban warfare, drones,