Theme: Inheriting a World in Turmoil

Submission Deadline: Sunday, 7th December 2025

We live in unprecedented times. War and conflict have become the defining reality of our times, permeating every aspect of contemporary existence. Unlike previous eras, today’s conflicts blur boundaries between clearly demarcated battlefields and everyday life, creating a global scenario where violence−both physical and structural−shapes political, economic, and social realities. From the proxy wars that remake entire regions to the localized ethnic tensions that fracture communities, armed conflicts now represent not exceptional moments of breakdown but persistent features of the international order.

The impact of wars extends far beyond immediate destruction; it has generated cascading consequences that fundamentally alter societies and their legal frameworks. Armed conflicts displace populations, and create refugee crises that challenge existing humanitarian law and border controls. Economic warfare through sanctions and trade restrictions upend civilian populations while circumventing established/customary rules of engagement. Environmental destruction from warfare creates long-term ecological crises that intersect with climate change, generating new categories of displacement that existing legal frameworks struggle to address. The psychological trauma of conflict permeates generations, requiring new approaches to transitional justice and community healing.

Further, contemporary political conflicts represent complex warfare that transcends conventional military engagement. Narrative warfare exploits digital platforms to weaponize information producing competing versions of reality that destabilize objective discourse and shared truth. Trade wars deploy economic tools as instruments of coercion, transforming commercial relationships into strategic confrontations that destabilize multilateral institutions. Cyber warfare operates in borderless digital spaces which challenge traditional concepts of sovereignty and jurisdiction while creating new vulnerabilities that legal systems struggle to comprehend. These hybrid forms of conflict reveal how warfare has expanded beyond kinetic violence to encompass information, economics, and technology as strategic domains.

The battles that pervade and shape our socio-legal realities today often unfold outside traditional war zones, manifesting as struggles over fundamental questions of justice, identity, and power. Prevailing social and economic injustices lead to tensions over conserving existing social orders, leading to conflicts over rights and resources. Digital platforms have become sites of contestation where surveillance capitalism confronts privacy rights, while algorithmic governance challenges human agency and democratic accountability. The question of security creates an ambivalent space legitimizing authoritarianism within democratic institutions, generating a looming threat of new forms of structural violence that may operate within ostensibly legitimate frameworks. The overlap between external and internal warfare suggests that the line between war and peace has become increasingly fraught.

The challenge of conflict resolution and peacemaking has become inseparable from broader questions about the role of law in creating just societies. Traditional approaches to peace-building through international law assume the existence of legitimate state actors committed to rule-based order, yet many contemporary conflicts involve non-state actors or occur within crumbling political orders. Alternative approaches to justice, including restorative frameworks and truth commissions, offer pathways beyond punishment toward healing and reconciliation, yet their effectiveness depends on broader transformations in legal consciousness and institutional practice. The development of preventive legal mechanisms and early warning systems represents an attempt to address conflicts before they escalate, while innovative approaches to criminal justice challenge the punitive logic that underlies much contemporary law. Ultimately, meaningful conflict resolution requires not merely managing violence but reimagining the social contract that governs how communities organize power, distribute resources, and resolve differences.

The Editorial Board of Vox Legis, the in-house student-faculty collaborative magazine of the Faculty of Law, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, invites submissions for its upcoming edition on the theme “Inheriting a World in Turmoil”. We encourage contributions from researchers and students, which analyse approaches and challenges to conflicts within existing legal-juridical systems and alternatives. And responses to emerging crises.

Inheriting a world in turmoil is not merely a burden, it’s a call to responsibility and an opportunity for reimagination. This edition asks: “Is everything broken? Or can you still make it?”

The sub-themes include but are not limited to:

ARMED CONFLICT, SOVEREIGNTY, AND LAW

  • Gender-Based Violence in Armed Conflicts and the Legal Impediments to Justice

  • Comparative Global Analysis of Refugee Protection Systems and the Growing Gap Between International Law and National Implementation

  • Political Detention in the 21st Century: International Oversight Mechanisms and the Erosion of Due Process Rights

  • War as Alternative Dispute Resolution: Armed Conflict in Contemporary International Relations

  • Exploring Possibilities and Institutional Innovations for a Post-Westphalian World System

CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND LAW

  • Women’s Participation and Influence in Contemporary Peace Negotiation Processes

  • The Role of War Crimes Tribunals in Evolution of International Courts in Modern Conflict Resolution

  • Prison Abolition and Preventive Legal Frameworks: Early Warning Systems, Conflict Prevention Laws, and Proactive Governance Mechanisms

  • Legal Implementation Challenges in Contemporary Peace Agreement Drafting and Enforcement

  • Emerging Models of Criminal Rehabilitation and Comparative Analysis of Restorative Justice Systems

  • The Impact of International Law on State Accountability and Emerging Enforcement Mechanisms for Genocide Prevention Norms

CLIMATE AND WARFARE

  • Legal Protection Frameworks for Climate-Induced Displacement in the 21st Century

  • International Frameworks for Indigenous Sovereignty and Reparations in the Climate Crisis

ECONOMICS AND WARFARE

  • The Humanitarian Costs and Legal Efficacy of Contemporary Economic Sanctions Regimes

  • Role of Tech Giants in Extraction of Economic Value from the Global South and Potential Legal Responses

  • Platform Capitalism Exposed in the Gig Economy and Content Creation Industries: Legal Responses to Digital Labor Exploitation

TECHNOLOGY AND WARFARE

  • Social Media’s Transformation of Political Discourse and Democratic Participation Among Digital Natives

  • Surveillance Capitalism v. Civil Liberties: Legal Frameworks for Data Protection in an Age of Mass Digital Monitoring

  • Legal Implications and Regulatory Responses to Digital Misinformation in Democratic Societies

  • The Role of Journalists and Civil Society in Contemporary Humanitarian Law

  • Challenges to Information Control in Digital and Traditional Media

INTERNAL WARFARE AND LAW

  • Comparative Analysis of Crisis Management in Indian Metropolitan Cities

  • Legal and Policy Responses to India’s Urban Development Challenges in the 21st Century

  • Analyzing Rising Governmental Instability and Constitutional Responses Across Global Democracies

  • Resettling The Diaspora: Urban Planning, Socio-Economic Challenges, and Cultural Shock

All submissions shall adhere to the Submission Guidelines. For any queries, please feel free to write to us at editorialteam.fol@gmail.com. We look forward to your insightful contributions. Please send your submissions to editorialteam.fol@gmail.com according to the given deadlines on or before 7th December 2025.


Happy Writing!

Team Vox Legis