Since World War II, the primary ambition of international humanitarian law — the law of armed conflict — has been to insulate military violence from the civilian population. Military forces are required to identify themselves as such, by wearing clearly marked uniforms, and to discriminate in their selection of targets: They cannot deliberately attack noncombatants or infrastructure that has no military use.
The controversy surrounding the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, defeated in the U.S. Senate on December 4, demonstrates the tension in Catholic teaching between the need for effective international institutions that promote human rights and the need for international institutions that respect a proper balance between their own authority and the authority of states.