Strategic Studies Institute epub Lethal and Legal? The Ethics of Drone Strikes

The use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, has increased exponentially in the last 10 years, and this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. But with this increased use has come increased controversy, in particular closer scrutiny of the legal and ethical dimensions of the use of armed drones. In this monograph, British academic and practitioner Dr. Shima Keene provides a comprehensive assessment of the lethal use of drone technologies, measured in terms of their legality, morality, and overall effectiveness in the fight against terrorism and counterinsurgency operations. Dr. Keene is a subject matter expert in the field of asymmetric warfare and counterterrorism, and a former Director of the Security Technology Short Course at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, where she conducted research into both technical and ethical aspects of the deployment of UAV technologies. In her monograph, she explores the legal and ethical bases for lethal use of drones, both from a U.S. and an international perspective. Dr. Keene also highlights knowledge gaps that must be filled in order to be able to make an accurate assessment of the success or failure of operations where drones have been deployed, and argues that greater transparency is needed to obtain broad public support for their use.