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Towards a War of Norms ? From Lawfare to Legal Operations

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Focus Stratégique
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Accroche

Defined as the use of law to establish, perpetuate, or change power relations in order to counter an adversary, lawfare practices reflect a reality that is inherent in international law.

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Corps analyses

Resulting from compromises between states, international law expresses political-strategic power relations that lawfare seeks to manipulate in four main ways:

  • adjusting legal constraints by reinterpreting existing norms
  • establishing new norms through legal lobbying as a power strategy
  • mobilizing legal effects to coerce an actor through strategic litigation
  • using law as a reputational weapon

Although lawfare is controversial when understood as a misuse of the rule of law, it is now being institutionalized. While states do not claim direct responsibility for acts of lawfare, the increasing use of legal vectors to achieve political-strategic ends is a notable feature of the disruptions at work in the international system. States have always used the law for strategic purposes, but recent developments—the proliferation of courts of justice, the increasing media coverage of conflicts, and the growing confusion between legality and legitimacy—tend to favor a greater instrumentalization of the law.

 

 

This content is available in French: Vers une guerre des normes ? Du lawfare aux opérations juridiques.

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ISBN / ISSN

979-10-373-0591-6

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Towards a War of Norms ? From Lawfare to Legal Operations

Decoration
Author(s)
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Amélie FÉREY

Amélie FÉREY

Intitulé du poste

Research Fellow, Head of the Defense Research Unit, Security Studies Center, Ifri

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Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.

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Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Temptations. Lessons Learned from Regional Instability

Date de publication
11 September 2025
Accroche

Saudi Arabia’s integration in the international arena and regional stability, notably through reducing its dependence on fossil energies, are crucial elements for the success of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the Crown Prince’s top priority. However, Mohammed bin Salman’s declarations in 2018 and 2021, indicating that “if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible”, combined with the recent strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities, do not bode well for the future of the Kingdom, the region and the non-proliferation regime at large.

Nour EID
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The Future of Air Superiority. Command of the Air in High Intensity Warfare

Date de publication
24 January 2025
Accroche

Air superiority, understood as control of the air, is a cornerstone of the Western art of warfare. It is a decisive condition, albeit not sufficient by itself, to achieve military victory, as it enables the concentration of air power toward the achievement of wider strategic objectives and protects other components from unbearable attrition levels. It is best achieved through the offensive use of air power in a joint effort to neutralize the enemy’s air power.

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Europe Uncovered?

Date de publication
09 September 2025
Accroche

As Russia continues to threaten Europe, the Trump administration is making no secret of its desire to withdraw—at least partially—from the defense of the Old
Continent in order to focus on strategic competition with China. It is thus putting pressure on its European allies to increase their investment in the military sector. The NATO Summit in The Hague in June 2025 resulted in ambitious commitments by member states to increase their defense spending.

Élie TENENBAUM Guillaume GARNIER
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How should Britain and France cooperate to realise the Northwood Declaration?

Date de publication
18 July 2025
Accroche

During his state visit to the United Kingdom (UK) last week, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, signed a joint declaration with Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, on nuclear cooperation between Britain and France. The Northwood Declaration highlights that while both countries’ nuclear arsenals remain sovereign, cooperation on nuclear deterrence can ‘contribute significantly’ to the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Euro-Atlantic region.

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Towards a War of Norms ? From Lawfare to Legal Operations