Book Review: The Military Commander’s Necessity: The Law of Armed Conflict and Its Limits, by Sigrid Redse Johansen.

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This book review of The Military Commander’s Necessity: The Law of Armed Conflict and Its Limits, addresses the author's treatment of the concept of military necessity and the function it serves within the law of armed conflict, particularly in light of the commander's discretion and the Rendulic Rule. Johansen demonstrates that military necessity undergirds many of the core concepts of IHL—including the principles of distinction and proportionality, the prohibition on superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering, the special protections accorded to certain classes of person and property, and the imperative to undertake precautions in attack, but only if feasible—all of which receive careful treatment in dedicated chapters in the book. The review concludes that, in many respects, the book’s title undersells Johansen’s contribution, which amounts to a comprehensive treatment of much of the law of war through the lens of military necessity—one half of the grand, but delicate, balance between military exigencies and humanitarian concerns that undergirds all of IHL. It also identifies some vexing areas within the law of armed conflict where necessity operates.