Asymmetric Warfare as a Fifth-Generation Human Rights Challenge

Written by: Advocate Sanchari Biswas, 1st Year of LL.M in Human Rights, Department Of Law University of Calcutta.

Abstract

Fifth-generation warfare (5GW) has emerged as the dominant form of conflict in the 21st century, radically transforming the nature of warfare and its legal and humanitarian consequences. Unlike conventional armed conflicts, which involve identifiable state actors, formal declarations of war, and kinetic force, 5GW is characterized by the use of cyberattacks, disinformation, psychological operations, artificial intelligence (AI), and autonomous weapon systems. These non-kinetic tools allow both state and non-state actors to operate below the threshold of traditional armed conflict, often with plausible deniability and minimal physical presence. The anonymity and decentralization inherent in 5GW make it difficult to identify perpetrators, assign state responsibility, or classify combatants according to existing legal frameworks. As a result, the foundational principles of international humanitarian law (IHL), the Geneva Conventions, and international criminal law—built for conflicts between nations—struggle to regulate these emerging threats. Civilians are increasingly targeted or used as instruments of war, blurring the line between combatant and non-combatant. This paper explores how fifth-generation warfare challenges traditional concepts of victimhood, erodes the mechanisms of accountability, complicates questions of legal jurisdiction, and exposes the limitations of current legal protections. It argues for a reimagined human rights framework that addresses the unique threats posed by modern, hybrid, and information-centric conflicts.

Key Words: Fifth-generation warfare, cyberattacks, legal framework, information warfare, jurisdiction, civilian targeting

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Volume 1 | Issue 5