Moral Dilemmas of Modern War: Torture, Assassination, and Blackmail in an Age of Asymmetric Conflict
Cambridge University Press, 2/18/2010
EAN 9780521866156, ISBN10: 0521866154
Hardcover, 336 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
Asymmetric conflict is changing the way that we practise and think about war. Torture, rendition, assassination, blackmail, extortion, direct attacks on civilians, and chemical weapons are all finding their way to the battlefield despite longstanding international prohibitions. This book offers a practical guide for policy makers, military officers, students, and others who ask such questions as: do guerillas deserve respect or long jail sentences? Are there grounds to torture guerillas for information or assassinate them on the battlefield? Is there room for nonlethal weapons to subdue militants and safeguard the lives of noncombatants? Who are noncombatants in asymmetric war? What is the status of civilians who shelter and aid guerillas? And, do guerillas have any right to attack civilians, particularly those who aid and shelter members of the stronger army? If one side can expand the scope of civilian vulnerability, then why can't the other?
1. Torture, assassination and blackmail in modern, asymmetric conflict
2. Friends, foes or brothers in arms? The puzzle of combatant equality
Part I. Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Combatancy
3. Shooting to kill
the paradox of prohibited weapons
4. Shooting to stun
the paradox of nonlethal warfare
5. Murder, self-defense or execution? The dilemma of assassination
6. Human dignity or human life
the dilemmas of torture
Part II. Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Noncombatancy
7. Blackmailing the innocent
the dilemma of noncombatant immunity
8. Killing the innocent
the dilemma of terror
9. Risking our lives to save others
the paradox (and dilemma) of humanitarian intervention
Conclusion
10. Torture, assassination and blackmail
new norms for asymmetric conflict?