The shape-shifting nature of today’s organized armed groups and their opportunistic associations with other armed groups means that a state fighting one non-state armed group (NSAG) sometimes finds itself confronting other NSAGs as well. How should we determine when two or more NSAGs are interacting in a way that unites them in a single non-international armed conflict (NIAC) against a state?

Citation
Ashley S. Deeks, Common Article 3 and Linkages Between Non State Armed Groups, Lawfare (October 4, 2017).