Dear Readers,

As we welcome 2026, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for your engagement with the ICRC’s work to promote international humanitarian law (IHL) and humanitarian policy, and for your sustained commitment to the protection of humanity in armed conflict. Your readership is not passive; it is part of a shared endeavor to ensure that law, humanitarian principle and conscience continue to influence the course of action where violence too often threatens to eclipse them.

Throughout 2025, as in years before, people caught up in armed conflict and violence continued to bear the profoundly human cost of violence. Their lived reality laid bare a central paradox of our time: the enduring relevance of IHL and humanitarian action, and the intensifying strain placed upon them. It also reaffirmed the protective purpose of the legal framework itself, which, when respected and applied in good faith, remains a vital means of limiting harm, preserving dignity and safeguarding a measure of humanity amid war. Together, these insights sharpen a conviction that remains clear and unchanged: humanitarian law and policy must stand at the center of efforts to uphold human dignity, grounded in hard-won principles that transcend borders, politics and momentary expedience.

This newsletter brings together a curated selection of analysis, debate and reflection from across the ICRC’s humanitarian law and policy ecosystem over the past year. It highlights widely read contributions examining how humanitarian law and policy respond to contemporary forms of armed violence, technological change, and enduring questions of protection and principle. It also features my Editor’s Picks from the Humanitarian Law and Policy blog, highlights from public events that fostered dialogue between practitioners and experts, and the latest editions of the International Review of the Red Cross (IRRC). As reflected in the ways these contributions have been taken up beyond our platforms, they speak not only to the depth of discussion within our community, but also to the growing reach of these ideas and the ways in which they inform debates and decisions well beyond it.

As we step into 2026, our mission remains unchanged, even as its urgency deepens: to serve as a space for critical reflection, to elevate underrepresented voices, and to deepen understanding of the frameworks that protect people in armed conflict and effective responses to their needs. Thank you for being part of this community of readers, thinkers and practitioners. Together, let us continue to champion humanity and the rule of law in these challenging times.

With thanks and kind regards,

Elizabeth J. Rushing
Editor-in-Chief

Humanitarian Law & Policy

📈 Humanitarian Law and Policy Platform: Top Posts

• Samit D’Cunha, Tristan Ferraro, and Tilman Rodenhäuser, ‘Hybrid threats’, ‘grey zones’, ‘competition’, and ‘proxies’: When is it actually war?, January 16, 2025
•  Cordula Droege and Maya Brehm, Anti-personnel mines: the false promise of security through exceptionalism in war, March 13, 2025        
• Mirjana Spoljaric, A call to make international humanitarian law a political priority, February 6, 2025    

• Samit D’Cunha, Tristan Ferraro, and Tilman Rodenhäuser, ‘Hybrid threats’, ‘grey zones’, ‘competition’, and ‘proxies’: When is it actually war?, January 16, 2025
• Mirjana Spoljaric, A call to make international humanitarian law a political priority, February 6, 2025
• Joanna Wilson, AI, war and (in)humanity: the role of human emotions in military decision-making, February 20, 2025

📌 Stand-Out Reads: Editor’s Picks

Navigating violence: five insights to strengthen humanitarian action in contested territories

Complying with IHL in large-scale conflicts: key preparedness measures

Protecting civilians in good faith: the updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention

Sixty years on: why the Fundamental Principles must be lived, not just remembered

✨ Law and Policy Event Highlights

• AI in Military Decision Making: A Dialogue on How to Enhance IHL Compliance, 17 June 2025  
• Launch of the Updated Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention, 27 November 2025
• From Hackers to Tech Companies: IHL and the Involvement of Civilians in ICT Activities in Armed Conflict, 04 November 2025

⚖️ Must-See Moments!

IHL in Action: Protecting children during armed conflict

ICRC Public archives online catalogue

📚 International Review of the Red Cross

IHL & Peace

The Military

Protection of the Dead

📣 Outreach Amplified: Where Our Work Has Been Used

• The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s report “Artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security” cited our post “The (im)possibility of meaningful human control for lethal autonomous weapon systems” in its examination of the opportunities, challenges, and normative questions surrounding the use of AI in the military domain.
• The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) report “Neurotechnology in the Military Domain: A Primer” cited our post “The Shifting Battlefield: Technology, Tactics, and the Risk of Blurring Lines in Warfare” in its analysis of AI-enabled capabilities and human–machine integration in modern warfare.
• The World Bank’s Sudan Economic Update (May 2025) cited a case study from the IHL in Action database to highlight how progress in demining efforts can positively impact civilian safety, land access, and post-conflict recovery.
• The Guardian article “Are we witnessing the death of international law?” cited one of our Online Casebook case studies in its discussion of how IHL is invoked, interpreted, and contested in modern warfare.
• A UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact report on “Ensuring respect for human rights while taking measures to counter the financing of terrorism” referenced the IRRC edition on “Counterterrorism, sanctions and war” in its analyses of humanitarian activities under the Geneva Conventions and the impact of counterterrorism measures and sanctions on access to humanitarian assistance and protection.