The right to wage war is almost entirely limited to sovereign states. This is usually seen as the product of humanitarian concerns. However, argue Claire Vergerio and Quentin Bruneau, the principle was enshrined in the nineteenth century to empower existing state authorities against challengers—including groups struggling against colonialism, who were reduced to criminals. This is now playing out in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel is granted a right to wage war denied to Palestinians.

1. An Israeli ‘right to self-defense’ versus a Palestinian ‘right to resistance’