The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual

Mike Newton is a West Point graduate who serves as Professor of the Practice of Law at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, Law School. He has published over ninety articles, editorials, and book chapters including co-authored books Proportionality in International Law (2014), and Enemy of the State: The Trial and Execution of Saddam Hussein (2008), which received the Book of the Year Award from the International Association of Penal Law. Newton helped negotiate the International Criminal Court Elements of Crimes and served in the US Department of State during the Clinton and Bush Administrations.

• Part I. Background and Bureaucratic Formation of the Manual: 1. Framing thoughts on the DoD Law of War Manual and this commentary Michael A. Newton; 2. The US Department of Defense Law of War Manual: why, what, and how Karl Chang; 3. Specifically vague: the defensive purpose of the DoD Law of War Manual Chris Jenks; Part II. Prominent Perspectives on the DoD Manual: 4. Practitioners and the Law of War Manual Charles Dunlap; 5. A NATO perspective on the Manual Steven Hill; 6. A subordinate service perspective on the DoD Law of War Manual Geoffrey Corn; Part III. Substantive Contributions and Controversies: 7. Back to the basics: core law of war principles through the lens of the DoD Manual Ray Murphy; 8. The Manual's redefined concept of non-international armed conflict: applying faux LOAC to a fictional NIAC David E. Graham; 9. Aspects of the distinction principle under the US DoD Law of War Manual Bill Boothby; 10. At war with itself: the DoD Law of War Manual's tension between doctrine and practice on target verification and precautions in attack Peter Margulies; 11. Misdirected: targeting and attack under the DoD Manual Adil Ahmad Haque; 12. Muddying the waters: the need for precision-guided terminology in the DoD Law of War Manual Laurie R. Blank; 13. Detention and prosecution as described in the DoD Manual Andrew Clapham; 14. The DoD conception of the law of occupation Yaël Ronen; Part IV. The Manual's Long Term Prospects and Implications: 15. Commentary on the law of cyber operations and the DoD Law of War Manual Gary D. Brown; 16. The DoD Law of War Manual as applied to coalition command and control Michael A Newton; 17. Armed groups and the DoD Manual: shining a light on overlooked issues Katharine Fortin; 18. Hybrid law, complex battlespaces: what's the use of a law of war manual? Aurel Sari.

'The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual: Commentary and Critique is essential reading for students, scholars and practitioners alike, whether they view themselves as on the left or the right, and whether they consider themselves supporters or critics of US military law and policy. Deftly compiled and introduced by editor Michael A. Newton, the essays in this book, all by top international and military law scholars, collectively form an essential companion to the Law of War Manual itself, highlighting both the Manual's strengths and the inevitable gaps, flaws and ambiguities that remain in any undertaking of this scale.' Rosa Brooks, Georgetown University Law Center and the Modern War Institute, West Point