Marco Pertile, Marie-Curie Fellow, IHEID
Assistant: Cristina Verones
Course Description
The aim of the course lies in investigating the international legal regulation of the relationship between natural resources and armed conflicts. The course will consider different bodies of rules, such as the law on the use of force, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international environmental law, human rights, permanent sovereignty over natural resources and self-determination. A first objective is to understand the interaction between the relevant legal regimes. Another objective lies in applying a coherent set of interpretive and systemic tools with the aim of reducing fragmentation and inconsistencies. Finally, possible solutions to the problem of “illegal exploitation of natural resources” and to the issue of armed conflict resources (i.e. resources fuelling the initiation of conflicts) will be considered from a legal perspective. The exploitation of natural resources in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and Western Sahara will be among the case studies.
