The War in Ukraine – Do Dual Use Technologies challenge the principle of distinction?

This paper attempts to identify the causal links between dual use technologies (DUT) and war. Militaries are increasing their reliance on dual use technologies to conduct war and the war in Ukraine shows that states do not hesitate to rely on commercial actors to support military operations. However, distinguishing lawful targets from civilians is an important part of IHL and the inclusion of dual use technologies on the battlefield contributes to blurring this distinction. Therefore, we explore how dual use technologies challenges International Humanitarian Law’s principle of distinction. Our hypothesis is that dual use technologies challenge the principle of distinction because their inclusion of civilians in military operations increases the risk of civilian casualties on the battlefield. Using the war in Ukraine as a case study, we identify cities, cyberwarfare and satellites as stark examples of reliance on dual use technologies. After a qualitative analysis of think tank reports, journal articles and news articles, we discover that resorting to dual use technologies to conduct war does not necessarily challenge the principle of distinction, but rather includes civilian infrastructure in the continuous combat function. This entails a participation of civilians and commercial actors in hostilities which brings the battlefield closer to civilians.

Authors

• Amaury Heintz, Master of Arts candidate in International Affairs (specialization in Security Studies), Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies