Drones and the Future of Armed Conflict

Drones and the Future of Armed Conflict offers a robust conversation among leading thinkers on ethics and the use of force; counterterrorism strategy; international legal standards; and the role of human rights and international humanitarian law. The volume reveals an urgent need to develop global standards for how these weapons should be used, for what purposes, and under what conditions.  Together the contributors take the measure of the current US drone campaign, and look ahead at the developing ethical, legal, and strategic implications of this new way of warfare.  A section on Ethics and Law is an examination and counterpoints of the US government’s legal justifications for the drone campaign and for targeting of enemies.  A second section on strategy analyzes the successes and problems of the American drone war.  And the last section on rights looks at government accountability, freedom of information, and human rights more generally.  The volume is prefaced by Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. The editors close the work with directions for future research and policy.