Following the Arab Spring of 2011 and the continuation of the war on terror, questions have re-emerged regarding the adequacy of the current legal framework governing armed conflict. Are the rules created in the post-World War II environment relevant in a world in which inter-state conflict is no longer the norm, and those involved in situations of violence are increasingly non-state actors? Will the Additional Protocols be useful in plugging gaps left by 1949 Geneva Conventions? Rather than focus on these broader issues, this paper seeks to address the specific issue of the legal framework governing those conflicts which straddle the indistinct line between non-international armed conflict and sporadic acts of violence or internal disturbances.