War of the Living Dead: An Analysis of the Permissibility of the Zombie Weapon in Modern International Armed Conflict

Abstract

Over the past century, citizens have been faced with many sources of terror, including nuclear and biological warfare, terrorist attacks, and genocide, and a host of state-specific threats. Yet among these threats, a certain “undead” fear has, over the past several years, become very much alive for Americans and people worldwide. This threat is zombies; that is, reanimated corpses who walk the earth and hunger for human flesh. Zombies have captured the hearts and minds of the entertainment realm for years; however, societies’ responses to zombies have proven this threat to be beyond fantasy. While the ways to address zombies and how to survive a zombie attack have been thoroughly explored, one area of scholarship has been notably absent from the zombie discussion — the legal realm. Assuming the possibility of their existence, zombies present several significant legal questions in many areas of law, in particular, the international laws of war. Considering the public’s fear of a domestic outbreak, the natural continuance is a fear that a foreign outbreak could cross borders. Going a step further, could a nation use the zombie’s mobility and hunger for flesh as a weapon against another nation during warfare? And if the zombies would be used, would their use be considered impermissible under the current boundaries for weapons in armed conflict? In this paper, I will define the concept of the zombie, introduce the “Hague Law,” which governs weapons use in international conflict, and discuss the underlying principles of necessity, proportionality, and distinction that provide the backbone for the Hague Law. By applying these principles, I will demonstrate that zombies are an abhorrent weapon that should not be used in armed conflict. Lastly, rather than delay until the zombies are possible reality in warfare, states should prohibit their use now before states implement the zombies and consider them an indispensable weapon.