The horrors that a nuclear conflict could unleash upon the world were made plain in 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The intervening 76 years have seen a significant increase in the number of states known or believed to possess such weapons, and a continuing reliance, pivotal during the Cold War but no less important in the post-Cold War era, on nuclear deterrence as a factor in maintaining peace among the global powers. Given the proliferation of nuclear weapons that has taken place, there is a recognizable need for mutual assurance among States, both nuclear and otherwise. A key contributing element in that required mutual assurance is nuclear command, control and communications (NC3). Put simply, the global community needs to be assured that all nuclear weapon-armed States have effective and robust NC3 arrangements in place. But what are the rules that regulate this most terrifying of weapons?

This course will take students logically through the diverse elements of the applicable law showing how that law can make sense in the extreme circumstances of nuclear war. After examining ideas of sovereignty and jurisdiction, we will consider the law as it applies respectively to the resort to the use of nuclear force and to the conduct of nuclear operations during an armed conflict. International crimes, neutrality and national doctrine will be addressed and the continued relevance, or otherwise, of a pivotal opinion of the International Court of Justice, dating from the mid-1990s, will be assessed. We will review the significance of a treaty, adopted a few years ago, that would ban nuclear weapons and in a concluding session, we will try to draw conclusions for the future of NC3.

The course is structured into ten lectures, taking a distinct topic within each lecture. In the associated seminars, course members will work through practical problems in sub-groups thereafter presenting and discussing their proposed solutions in the plenary setting. Some background understanding of international law as it affects conflict would be a desirable advantage, but the course can and will be taught on the basis of no prior knowledge.

The intended learning outcomes include the ability to think, discuss and formulate solutions at the strategic level, an understanding of the challenges posed by the peculiar characteristics of nuclear weapons, an appreciation of the legal and political realities that influence national nuclear policies and a recognition of the global issues that arise when addressing a weapon the very existence of which arouses such widespread concern.

Students undertaking this course can expect to see the challenges posed by nuclear weapons in a sharper light than hitherto.