In this episode, Major Emily Bobenrieth sits down with Ms. Lakmini Seneviratne, Legal Advisor and Head of the Legal department for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation for the United States and Canada located in Washington, D.C. Having joined the ICRC in 2008, Ms. Seneviratne discusses her path to becoming an operational legal advisor, the mission of the ICRC, and the attorneys who advise this unique organization. She touches on current operational legal challenges facing the ICRC, as well as how the ICRC interacts with DoD and uniformed attorneys in operational environments. This episode ends with her thoughts on how a near-peer, large-scale combat operation (LSCO) will present grave challenges to the ICRC’s mission, and why the international community should strive to avoid any LSCO, as the humanitarian costs of such a conflict would be devastating.

Ms. Seneviratne co-published an article in Articles of War, touching many of the ideas discussed in this podcast. The article can be found at the following URL: https://lieber.westpoint.edu/reducing-human-cost-large-scale-military-operations/