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Podcast: A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
Episode: ON HOLDING THE ENEMY ACCOUNTABLE: CUSTOMS OF RETALIATION IN THE CIVIL WAR
Description: The ritual of retaliation codified what makes you legitimate [as a combatant] and what makes you not legitimate
How did combatants enforce the lawful practice of war prior to the Geneva Conventions and other conceptions of international laws of warfare? During the Civil War period, the answer was the customary practice of retaliation, which provides wronged combatants the opportunity to redress unlawful conduct by an opponent. Through a process of formal notification, threat of action, and binding honorable resolution, the Union and Confederacy managed to keep each other on the right side of the law. How and why this worked...