Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2018

Publication Title

Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal Moral, and Geopolitical Issues, 2nd edition

First Page

179

Last Page

204

Additional Publication URL

https://www.interlinkbooks.com/product_info.php?products_id=3200

Abstract

This book chapter addresses two questions. First, can targeted killing by drones in non-battlefield zones be justified on basis of just war theory? Second, will the proliferation and expansion of combat drones in warfare, including the introduction of autonomous drones, be an obstacle to initiating or executing wars in a just manner in the future? The first question is answered by applying traditional jus ad bellum (justice in the resort to war) and jus in bello (justice in the execution of war) principles to the American targeted killing campaign in Pakistan; the second question is answered on basis of principles of “just military preparedness” or jus ante bellum (justice before war), a new category of just war thinking. It is concluded that an international ban on weaponized drones is morally imperative and, certainly, that an international treaty against autonomous lethal weapons should be adopted.

Rights

This is a post-print version of a book chapter originally published in Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues, by Olive Branch Press. Archived with permission. Publisher reserves all rights.

Notes

Revised and updated chapter published in 2nd edition of Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal Moral, and Geopolitical Issues, ed. Marjorie Cohn (Northampton, Mass: Olive Branch Press, 2018), Chapter 9 (pp. 179-204). Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The first edition appeared in 2015.

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