A STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTOR, WILLIAM C. BANKS

Many who follow INSCT and its activities know that the Institute has been engaged for nearly one year now in what promises to be an important research project that is examining the applicability of the long-standing laws of armed conflict to situations of asymmetric warfare (i.e. conflicts between parties of unequal power). While it is always good to learn that our work is being recognized by others, some recent commentary about INSCT and its Maxwell School and College of Law sponsors suggests that there may be some misunderstanding concerning the role and mission of INSCT, and about the nature of the research project that we are pursuing.

INSCT is an academic program at Syracuse University that engages in interdisciplinary teaching, research, and conference and workshop programming in the fields of security and counterterrorism. Our mission is to study how governments can confront threats to their citizens posed by terrorism while safeguarding constitutional liberties and human rights. In the Spring of 2006 I expressed my still-current motivation for being engaged in the work of INSCT: “The fields of national security and counterterrorism are complex and difficult, the policy and legal issues are perennially contentious, and there are few settled answers. I cannot think of topics more current or provocative.”

First and foremost, INSCT has helped create and administer academic programs where Maxwell graduate students and College of Law students may earn certificates of advanced study in security studies. Nearly one hundred certificates have been awarded so far in the two schools, and our students are entering challenging positions in security and counter-terrorism in government, consulting firms, not-for-profit organizations, among other places.

We have also worked hard on our research agenda, which is “current and provocative” by its nature. As is described more fully under the New Battlefields/Old Laws section of this web site, we are working on a promising but challenging new research project that is designed to test the adaptability of the laws of armed conflict, most of which were written nearly 100 years ago (before terrorism was even envisaged), to current day situations where, in some cases, states are engaging militarily with non-state entities. Because the laws for limiting and governing armed conflict were developed by and for states fighting states, their terminology, definitions, and standards do not provide guidance or set limits when non-state entities (such as terrorist organizations, guerrilla groups, or insurgents) engage in armed conflict with states. Our project, which is co-sponsored by the Institute for Counterterorism (ICT) in Herzliya, Israel, has invited scholars and practitioners from a range of disciplines and nations to engage in dialogs and workshops that are designed to identify problem areas where the traditional rules come up short, and to examine whether revisions or new rules could be created that would provide some system of accountability and control over asymmetric armed conflict.

At a conference in Washington in October, we expect to present some early findings from our work so far, and to engage in a wide-ranging discussion with experts from the human rights community, academia, government, and practitioners on how these issues might be addressed by the international community. Our work on this project is challenging and important, and our periodic reports will be publicly released on this web site.