The controversy surrounding targeted killings represents a crisis of conscience for policymakers, lawyers and philosophers grappling with the moral and legal limits of the war on terror. This text examines the legal and philosophical issues raised by government efforts to target suspected terrorists.

Over the last decade, the U.S., UK Israel and other states have begun to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for military operations and for targeted killings in places like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Worldwide, over 80 governments are developing their own drone programs, and even non-state actors such as the Islamic State have begun to experiment with drones. The speed of technological change and adaptation with drones is so rapid that it is outpacing the legal and ethical frameworks which govern the use of force. This volume brings together experts in law, ethics and political science to address how drone technology is slowly changing the rules and norms surrounding the use of force and enabling new, sometimes unprecedented, actions by states. It addresses some of the most crucial questions in the debate over drones today. Are drones a revolutionary form of technology that will transform warfare or is their effect merely hype? Can drone use on the battlefield be made wholly consistent with international law? How does drone technology begin to shift the norms governing the use of force? What new legal and ethical problems are presented by targeted killings outside of declared war zones? Should drones be considered a humane form of warfare? Finally, is it possible that drones could be a force for good in humanitarian disasters and peacekeeping missions in the near future? This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

Drones have become an essential part of U.S. national security strategy, but most Americans know little about how they are used, and we receive conflicting reports about their outcomes. In Drones and the Ethics of Targeted Killing, ethicist Kenneth R. Himes provides not only an overview of the role of drones in national security but also an important exploration of the ethical implications of drone warfare—from the impact on terrorist organizations and civilians to how piloting drones shapes soldiers. Targeted killings have played a role in politics from ancient times through today, so the ethical challenges around how to protect against threats are not new. Himes leads readers through the ethics of targeted killings in history from ancient times to the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then looks specifically at the new issues raised through the use of drones. This book is a powerful look at a pressing topic today.

This title examines the international lawfulness of state-sponsored targeted killings in military and police operations. Analysing recent state practice and jurisprudence, it establishes when targeted killing may be considered lawful, and what legal restraints are imposed on the practice in times of war and peace.

Targeting Terrorists: A License to Kill? examines the political history and ethics of targeted killing. Avery Plaw's analysis addresses the questions of moral, political and legal justification in the context of the current 'war on terror' and of legitimate/illegitimate forms of counter-terrorism more generally. Given the increasing number of terrorist targetings conducted around the world today and the virtual absence of a sustained public and scholarly debate over the practice, this study makes a crucial contribution to the examination of an increasingly important and troubling subject. Incorporating insights and arguments from a range of disciplines and approaches, and offering an excellent balance between theory and case studies, this book is highly relevant for courses on ethics, politics, international relations and international law.

This book examines the normative debates around the American use of targeted killings. It questions whether the Obama administration’s defence of its use of targeted killings is cohesive or hypocritical. In doing so, the book departs from the disciplinary purpose of international law, constitutional law and the just war tradition and instead examines discipline-specific defences of targeted killings to identify their requisite normative principles in order to compare these norms across disciplines. The methodology used in this book means that it argues that targeted killings are only defensible as acts of war, but it also highlights the normative role of accountability and responsibility in this defence. In doing so, it offers an argument that the use of ‘pattern of life’ killings by the CIA falls outside the defence offered by the Obama administration, but that this same type of targeting could be used by the military due to differing standards/mechanisms of responsibility assignment in these organisations. The book thus provides a way of investigating contemporary wars where the conduct of war lacks the traditional hallmarks of conventional warfare. Furthermore, by drawing attention to differing normative concepts that underpin competing interpretations of law and morality, it provides a way of analysing contemporary political violence in an interdisciplinary fashion without seeking to displace single disciplinary study. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, ethics of war, foreign policy, international security and IR.

Targeting is the primary method for securing strategic objectives in an armed conflict. Failure to comply with the law of targeting jeopardizes the achievement of those aims. It is therefore essential that all those involved in or studying issues surrounding targeting have an accurate and complete understanding of this area of law. This book offers the definitive and comprehensive statement of all aspects of the law of targeting. It is a 'one-stop shop' that answers all relevant questions in depth. It has been written in an open, accessible yet comprehensive style, and addresses both matters of established law and issues of topical controversy. The text explains the meanings of such terms as 'civilian', 'combatant', and 'military objective'. Chapters are devoted to the core targeting principles of distinction, discrimination, and proportionality, as well as to the relationship between targeting and the protection of the environment and of objects and persons entitled to special protection. New technologies are also covered, with chapters looking at attacks using unmanned platforms and a discussion of the issues arising from cyber warfare. The book also examines recent controversies and perceived ambiguities in the rules governing targeting, including the use of human shields, the level of care required in a bombing campaign, and the difficulties involved in determining whether someone is directly participating in hostilities. This book will be invaluable to all working in this contentious area of law.