• War can be made more humane by the application of certain laws for armed conflict.soldiers in uniform image by Litle from Fotolia.com
  
  It would seem that on its face, war is the breakdown of any form of regular order, and so laws governing its conduct would be pointless. But war is also, as the German military theorist Carl von Clausewitz claimed, a "continuation of politics by other means." It stands to reason then that the making and enforcing of laws by the world community would have some advantage in making future armed conflict more humane.
  
  

Crimes Against Humanity

• The history of armed conflict throughout human civilization is filled with accounts of different atrocity. The main function of modern laws concerning war has been to make these atrocities illegal in an official way, so that perpetrators of war-crimes will know to expect punishment for any criminal actions taken in the heat of conflict. This has the advantage of creating at least some deterrence and a structure for dealing with war-crimes when they are discovered.
  
  

Bans

• Surprisingly, the ban on certain kinds of weapons, such as chemical and biological, has proven to be effective in eliminating their use in almost all armed conflict. Combatants on both sides of war have hesitated to use such weapons knowing that doing so would immediately help to discredit their cause. This has had the advantage of keeping some of the especially heinous new methods of war out of most modern armed conflict.
  
  

Negotiations

• The negotiations to end war have proven to be much simpler in conflicts where both sides are perceived as adhering to international laws concerning armed conflict. The bitterness that is usually associated with war is less if neither side is seen as having also committed crimes in the waging of that war. Also, both sides are able to appeal to the same amounts of legitimacy in stating the case for their side to the other.
  
  

Soldiers and Civilians

• In limiting the effects of war it has proven to be an essential advantage to make a fundamental distinction in law between soldiers and civilians. Because of this distinction, in most conflicts, civilians may expect precautions to be made for their safety by both armies. Likewise, soldiers in uniform may expect certain standards to be upheld in their treatment if they are captured and taken prisoner by the other side during an armed conflict.