Civilians at War: Reexamining the Status of Civilians Accompanying the Armed Forces

摘要

Until the last century, the infliction of violence during war was an intimately personal experience. Warriors fighting with sword and spear could not be far removed from their opponents. The advent of gunpowder and later of aircraft stretched the physical dimensions of the battlefield, but still kept combatants in close proximity to the targets of their attack. New technologies available to states have expanded the zone of conflict while at the same time allowing personnel engaged in hostilities to be far removed from the battlefield. This remotely conducted combat may take forms such as attacking an enemy's computer networks with worms and viruses or using remotely controlled unmanned aircraft to launch missiles onto the battlefield. Utilizing these methods, combatants sitting before computer screens can launch attacks against an enemy hundreds or even thousands of miles away.