| Summary/Abstract |
States have long employed other actors, including other states and nonstate actors, as fighting forces to help them achieve the national security objectives that they are unwilling or incapable of realizing unilaterally. In the international courts in recent years, however, there has been the increasing willingness to hold individuals accountable for violations of international law committed by those forces to whom they are providing assistance. For example, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found President Charles Taylor of Liberia guilty of aiding and abetting forces in Sierra Leone that repeatedly violated international law and inflicted untold human suffering on the people of that country. After delineating the legal risks facing state leaders that provide support to third party actors, I delve into conflict data to determine just how widespread the problem is. I examine the frequency with which actors commit violations of international law, and in particular the targeting of innocent civilians, and the extent to which such forces are being assisted by external actors. I find that this problem is prevalent and that many major powers have provided assistance to allies that violate international law.
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