domingojs23 said:
For my day job, I had coordinated the Philippines' month-long celebration of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which is essentially the law of war/armed conflict, emphasizing protection of civilians/non-combatants and banning the use of inhumane means and methods of warfare. From time to time I would ponder as to how IHL would be in the Traveller setting. Interstellar Sophontarian Law (ISL) anyone ?
As F33D pointed out, laws already exist within the Imperium governing the rules of war. The Library Data has them listed as - "The rules of war are an accumulation of unwritten concepts established on a case-by-case basis. They have not been officially codified to prevent formal precedent from preventing Imperial intervention. The main aim of the rules is to maintain the economic and military well-being of the realm.
The Imperium tolerates the use of force as a necessary outlet for built-up political and social pressures beyond the opponents' ability to mediate. A short war is deemed preferable to continuing tension, sabotage, political agitation, etc. However, attempts by extra-planetary forces to seize control of a world's affairs are beyond the scope of the "safety valve" rationale.
Recognizing that often some community of interest exists between a faction or state on a planet and some off-planet organization, the Imperium tolerates "assistance" as long as it is deemed appropriate to the level of legitimate interest in the affairs of the world held by the extraplanetary organization. When it has appeared that the primary burden for the conduct of the war has been carried by an extra-planetary power, the Imperium has intervened.
One prohibition is clear and firm: use or possession of nuclear weapons, if discovered, and regardless of size or type, will almost certainly trigger Imperial intervention. The Imperium alone retains the rights to such weapons, because of their extreme destructive powers and the relatively low tech level at which they can be manufactured."
So two worlds within the Imperium can go to war, but the Imperuim MAY intervene if you tick them off or they think it might spill over and interrupt commerce. On a balkanized world two countries could go to war, but they could not use nukes against one another. Something along the lines of firebombing population centers might also trigger Imperial intervention, but if they stuck to pure military attacks, with the occasional 'oops', then most like there would be no intervention.
Rules like this make sense considering the size and scope of the Imperium. Small wars and raids are preferable to letting things build up and explode. An analogy might be the continual debate over letting forest fires burn. Should you let nature takes its course, or intervene and possibly cause yourself bigger disasters down the road?
