Drone Age and the Law

Since the Stone Age, the institution of war has been on a spectacular odyssey, so has been the perennial quest for inventing and reinventing the sophisticated weaponry. Despite myriad of sedulous endeavors, over the time, to fashion out normative structures to potentially forestall the war-borne catastrophes, the reign of violence has been stubbornly rampant. The 9/11 terrorist attacks against United States followed by unprecedented military response through the employment of combat drones beyond the actual combat zones in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, has pressed the 'reset' button of the war terrain. The Drone Age thus, envisages the zero gravity, where both jus ad bellum and jus in bellum are more fluid and amorphous and ready to be exploited by powerful states. The perceived acquisition and use of WMDs by terrorists is yet another somber challenge of the 'Drone Age'. In the backdrop of this gloomy scenario with deleterious consequences to the global peace and security, the study, besides identifying the issues and challenges to the law of armed conflict, ventures upon a sober debate to underscore the need to fix the anomalies.