3 - Negotiating Common Article 3 (1949)

Summary

The first part of this chapter describes the background to and the main elements in the negotiation of Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The second part of the chapter analyses the negotiations, examining the conduct of the negotiations and the drafting outcome from the perspectives of key actors (principally US, UK, Soviet, French and ICRC delegations) with accompanying observations on positions taken by other delegations. The chapter then examines the implications of the negotiating history for the five hypotheses, finding that the drafting reflects a balance between competing symbolic costs and benefits arrived at largely through processes of principled contestation and moral and technical persuasion, conducted against the material backdrop of the nascent Cold War and decolonisation, as well as a broader humanitarian international normative Zeitgeist.