Center on Law Ethics and National Security co-sponsors conference: Legal and Ethical Lessons from Kosovo

An international group of specialists on the law of war will meet at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., Aug. 8-10 to determine what specific rules apply in a humanitarian intervention such as NATO’s "Operation Allied Force" air strikes in Kosovo two years ago.

"This is a tremendously significant conference that will gather the top national and international experts in one place in an attempt to bring some order and structure to this very confusing area of the law and ethics," said Scott Silliman, executive director of Duke University Law School’s Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, which is sponsoring the conference along with the Naval War College and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs.

Keynote speakers Aug. 8 will be James Baker, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and legal adviser to the National Security Council during Operation Allied Force, and retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Short, commander of NATO air forces during the operation.

• The conference news release
• The Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Web Site
• Scott Silliman’s faculty profile