Territorial wars are different from other wars, both by virtue of the threats that they pose and in the ways that they are regulated by international law. Contemporary and historical examples illustrate both the dangers of territorial wars and the range of legal norms designed to limit territorial conflict, including the prohibition on the use of force, self-determination, the prohibition of annexations, the territorial basis of statehood, and the law of occupation. Today, territorial reordering appears to a growing threat — one with potentially grave consequences.
Ingrid Brunk is the Helen Strong Curry Chair in International Law at Vanderbilt Law School where she also holds the Tarkington Chair for Teaching Excellence. Her research and practice focuses on territory, self-determination, immunity, and transnational litigation. She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of International Law and was named as a Reporter for the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States.
Date: 26 March 2026
Time: 6.00-7.00 pm CET
The presentation will take place online via MS Teams. Please register below. The link and login data will be sent to those registered at the day of the event.
Registration:
Please fill in this form to register: Registration TwoLaW Lecture Series, 26 March 2026, 6.00 – 7.00 p.m., Ingrid Brunk
If you have any question, do not hesitate to contact Salma Said (student research assistant to Prof. Andreas Kulick): ssaid@students.uni-mainz.de
TwoLaW is an online lecture series on the theory, history, policy and practice of the laws of war. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the Hamas’ attack on Israel and the ensuing conflict in the Middle East, rarely in recent memory have both the ius contra bellum and the ius in bello faced so many daunting challenges: use of force by and self-defence against non-state actors; the participation of private military companies in hostilities; the digitization of warfare; the protection of civilians and the environment in international, non-international and hybrid armed conflicts; peace agreements and post-conflict claims; international criminal responsibility before and beyond the ICC – to name but a few of them. TwoLaW invites engaging discussions on these matters, seeking to bring into dialogue the law on the prohibition of the use of force and international humanitarian law despite their necessary doctrinal separation.
TwoLaW provides a critical perspective on pertinent challenges of the laws of war, broadly understood, in light of their theoretical, doctrinal, historical and political implications. Each one-hour event features a thought-provoking presentation by a leading scholar in the first half hour followed by a discussion in the second half hour. All events are held exclusively online from 6-7 pm CET.
