The Rules of War & Fourth World Nations
Rudolph C. Rÿser, PhD
Volume 1, Number 1 (2025) 1 (1): 53-72
Keywords 11949 Geneva Convention, 1977 Additional Protocols, supervising states, state sovieragnty, state sovereignty, involved parties, genocide, international legislation, internal conflicts, rules of war, wars of liberation, human rights
Abstract
In this article, Rÿser discusses the actions Indigenous nations should take based on international legislation developed between 1970 and 1985. While he considers much of this change superficial, he focuses on the 1977 Protocol I and II additions to the Geneva Conventions, which present new opportunities other than war for nations to achieve self-detemination. Comparing these protocols to the original Geneva Conventions—which enabled genocide within decolonized states under the guise of respecting state sovereignty—Rÿser highlights their potential. He explains the functions of Protocol I, showing that while it is focused on international conflict, it supports Indigenous causes by implicitly including Fourth World combatants through its defintion of the involved parties and the role of supervising states. Rÿser emphasizes how it normalizes recognition of Indigenous nations and helps prevent genocide. He also discusses Protocol II on internal conflicts, which, though a step forward, is less comprehensive and therefore unlikely to be widely applied given Fourth World nations’ limited access to international institutions. Overall, Rÿser calls on Indigenous nations to take initiative in enforcing both protocols, suggesting they ratify the accords to enable peaceful conflict resolution and seize the opportunity to positively influence the international order and gain equal footing with states.
Rudolph C. Rÿser, PhD
Published August 11, 2025
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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