Third-Party Actors and the Intentional Targeting of Civilians in War. Issue 4 (10th January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Appel, Benjamin J.; Prorok, Alyssa K.
• Is Part Of: British journal of political science. Volume 49:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 1453
• Page End: 1474
• Publication Date: 2018-01-10
• Subjects: international humanitarian law, -- interstate war, -- civilian targeting; Political science -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007123417000175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-1234

Abstract

Abstract : This article examines the relationship between third-party actors and the intentional targeting of non-combatants in interstate war. It argues that war participants kill fewer civilians in war when their expectation of third-party punishment is high. Combatants will anticipate a high likelihood of third-party sanctions when their alliance and trade networks are dominated by third parties that have ratified international treaties prohibiting the intentional targeting of non-combatants. The study hypothesizes that war combatants kill fewer civilians in war as the strength of ratifiers within their alliance and trade networks increases. Quantitative tests on a dataset of all interstate wars from 1900–2003 provide strong statistical and substantive support for this hypothesis.