Attacks on Life – The Targeting of Infrastructure in Armed Conflicts

The targeting of infra­structure has been a promi­nent feature of armed conflicts throughout history. Despite its promi­nence, this issue has not received much atten­tion from conflict scholars. Most conflict research has instead focused on direct violence against civilians in various forms. Selec­tive targeting of infra­structure may initially appear to be more restrained and “humane” compared to wide­spread targeting of cities or direct attacks on civilians, but it leads to immense suffering. It results in health and humani­tarian crises both during the attacks and in their after­math. This project aims to systematically inves­tigate this pheno­menon by examining the prevalence of infra­structure targeting, its causes, conse­quences, the intentions of belli­gerents employing this strategy, and public percep­tions of it at various levels of analysis. The research will utilize a variety of data and social science methods, including field­work, archival research, and statistical analyzes.