Gavin Lee is pleased to welcome Philippe Bolopion. Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. He describes a profound and accelerating shift in the conduct of war, marked not merely by violations of international humanitarian law, but by an unprecedented openness in asserting, even embracing, such violations. What distinguishes this moment is not the erosion of norms alone, but the rhetorical normalisation of their abandoning any respect for civilians and international law.
Across the globe, there is an emerging pattern of discourse that treats the laws of war not as constraints, but as mere optional considerations. This signals a deeper structural weakening of the rules-based international order, one that had been constructed over decades to mitigate harm to civilians.
In this context, the role of legal frameworks such as proportionality and distinction becomes increasingly contested, often overshadowed by strategic justifications that stretch or reinterpret their meaning. Simultaneously, the global enforcement architecture appears strained, as major powers challenge its legitimacy while smaller states hesitate to assert any collective pressure.
The result is a widening gap between norms and operational realities. This is not an isolated regional crisis, it is a global trend toward authoritarianism and the fragmentation of shared legal standards. Yet within this instability lies a critical juncture, one that tests whether international law remains a living instrument or simply remembered in the annals of history as a symbolic relic.
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Philippe BOLOPION Executive Director of Human Rights Watch
English (US) · 