International law is a gentleman’s agreement, not some divine regulatory framework. I assure you that such conventions will go out the window the moment they prove even mildly inconvenient to enforce.

Ah, true -- I'd forgotten about that. Even in the absence of blinding weapons, warfare and wounds will change completely when an overhead drone can target and burn a combatant in milliseconds. A quick and precise galvanometer may allow precisely-targeted strikes on tens of people in seconds.

The combination of projectiles and directed-energy weapons will make defense and evasion much more difficult. David Drake tried to show us the depravity of wars of the past in his work, but it also highlighted the horror of wars to come.

And shiny armor

Bystanders will be blinded by specular reflections many miles from the battle.