Asymmetric killing : risk avoidance, just war, and the warrior ethos / Neil C. Renic.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Renic, Neil C., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War--Moral and ethical aspects.

War.

Just war doctrine.

Drone aircraft--Moral and ethical aspects.

Drone aircraft.

Physical Description:

xvi, 246 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2020.

Summary:

This book offers an engaging and historically informed account of the moral challenge of radically asymmetric violence - warfare conducted by one party in the near-complete absence of physical risk, across the full scope of a conflict zone. What role does physical risk and material threat play in the justifications for killing in war? And crucially, is there a point at which battlefield violence becomes so one-directional as to undermine the moral basis for its use? In order to answers these questions, Asymmetric Killing delves into the morally contested terrain of the warrior ethos and Just War Tradition, locating the historical and contemporary role of reciprocal risk within both. This book also engages two historical episodes of battlefield asymmetry, military sniping and manned aerial bombing. Both modes of violence generated an imbalance of risk between opponents so profound as to call into question their permissibility. These now-resolved controversies will then be contrasted with the UAV-exclusive violence of the United States, robotic killing conducted in the absence of a significant military ground presence in conflict theatres such as Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. As will be revealed, the radical asymmetry of this latter case is distinct, undermining reciprocal risk at the structural level of war. Beyond its more resolvable tension with the warrior ethos, UAV-exclusive violence represents a fundamental challenge to the very coherence of the moral justifications for killing in war.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I THEORY

1. Asymmetric Violence and the State of the Field

Introduction

Casualty Aversion and Moral Hazard

The Threshold Challenge

Risk-Transfer War

More Than a Question of Conformity

The Expendability of Combatants

The Chivalric Dismissal

Engaging the Challenge Itself

Historicizing the Challenge of Radical Asymmetry

Reciprocal Risk and History

Historical Cases

Conclusion

2. The Moral Challenge of Radical Asymmetry

The Structural Reciprocity of War

Violence and Contestation

Justified Killing in War

The Historical Challenge of Asymmetry

The Challenge of Radical Asymmetry

The Changing Nature of War

A Gardener's Vision of War

Radical Asymmetry and the Redirection of Risk

pt. II RECIPROCAL RISK IN WAR

3. Reciprocity and the Warrior Ethos

The Age of the Warrior

Ancient Greek and Roman Warfare

Medieval European Warfare

The Age of the Soldier

Early Modern and Modern Warfare

Post-Heroic Warfare

4. Reciprocity and Just Conduct in War

Conventionalism

Moral Equality and Material Threat

Structural Risk, Status, and the Challenge of Radical Asymmetry

Revisionism

The Moral Inequality of Combatants

Radical Asymmetry and the Responsibility Threshold

Contractarianism

The Contractarian Right to Kill

The One-Sided Bargain of Radical Asymmetry

pt. III THE HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE OF ASYMMETRY

5. Military Sniping

Historical Overview

Early Ranged Violence

The Asymmetric Potential of Sniping

Sniping and the Warrior Ethos

The Modernization of War and the Endurance of Chivalry

Sniping and the Chivalry Deficit

Material Non-Threat and the Moral Challenge of Sniping

Sniping and Just Conduct in War

The De Facto Status of the Sniper

The Limits and Resolution of the Challenge of Sniping

The Exigencies of Modern War

Combat Responsibility and the Sniping Ethos

6. Manned Aerial Bombing

Early Bombing: Military Balloons and Airships

The Dawn of the Aircraft and Civilian Bombing

The Asymmetry-Challenge of Civilian Bombing

Aerial Bombing and the Chivalry Deficit

Material Non-Threat and the Moral Challenge of Civilian Bombing

The Antecedents of Radical Asymmetry

The First Gulf War: Highway of Death

Operation Allied Force: Zero Combat Casualty Warfare

The Limits and Resolution of the Challenge of Manned Aerial Bombing

The Individual and Structural Risk of Manned Bombing

Combat Responsibility and the Aircrew Ethos

7. UAV-Exclusive Violence

Early Concepts and Designs

The Radically Asymmetric Potential of UAV Warfare

The Ethical Challenge of UAV Violence

UAVs and the End of Heroism?

Ethics in an Age of Radical Asymmetry

The Moral Challenge of UAV Violence

Radical Asymmetry and Just Conduct in War

Low-Level Targeting and the Conceptual Expansion of Threat

The Implications of Radical Asymmetry

Enemy Status and the Changing Nature of War

UAVs and the Redirection of Risk

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-239) and index.

ISBN:

0198851464

9780198851462

OCLC:

1126004288