Preventive Force: Drones, Targeted Killing, and the Transformation of Contemporary Warfare

by Kerstin Fisk (Editor), Jennifer M. Ramos (Editor)

Overview

Examines the recent rise in the United States' use of preventive force

More so than in the past, the US is now embracing the logic of preventive force: using military force to counter potential threats around the globe before they have fully materialized. While popular with individuals who seek to avoid too many “boots on the ground,” preventive force is controversial because of its potential for unnecessary collateral damage. Who decides what threats are ‘imminent’? Is there an international legal basis to kill or harm individuals who have a connection to that threat? Do the benefits of preventive force justify the costs? And, perhaps most importantly, is the US setting a dangerous international precedent?

In Preventive Force, editors Kerstin Fisk and Jennifer Ramos bring together legal scholars, political scientists, international relations scholars, and prominent defense specialists to examine these questions, whether in the context of full-scale preventive war or preventive drone strikes. In particular, the volume highlights preventive drones strikes, as they mark a complete transformation of how the US understands international norms regarding the use of force, and could potentially lead to a ‘slippery slope’ for the US and other nations in terms of engaging in preventive warfare as a matter of course. A comprehensive resource that speaks to the contours of preventive force as a security strategy as well as to the practical, legal, and ethical considerations of its implementation, Preventive Force is a useful guide for political scientists, international relations scholars, and policymakers who seek a thorough and current overview of this essential topic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479881222
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	935 KB

About the Author

Kerstin Fisk is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. She has published in International Studies Perspectives and Civil Wars.
Jennifer M. Ramos is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. She is the author of Changing Norms through Actions: The Evolution of Sovereignty and co-editor, with Richard L. Fox, of iPolitics: Citizens, Elections and Governing in the New Media Era.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

List of Figures and Tables ix

1 Introduction: The Preventive Force Continuum Kerstin Fisk Jennifer M. Ramos 1

Part I Understanding Preventive War

2 Preventive Force: The Logic of Costs and Benefits Jennifer Taw 33

3 Preventive War and Its Domestic Politics Miroslav Nincic 58

4 Sovereignty and Preventive War in the Twenty-First Century: A Retrospective on Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War Thomas M. Nichols 88

Part II Perspectives on Preventive Drone Strikes

5 Why Drones Are Different Stephan Sonnenberg 115

6 The Drone: It's in the Way That You Use It David Glazier 142

7 Drones and the Law: Why We Do Not Need a New Legal Framework for Targeted Killing Daphne Eviatar 170

8 Studying Drones: The Low Quality Information Environment of Pakistan's Tribal Areas C. Christine Fair 199

Part III The Future OF Preventive Force

9 The Contemporary Practice of Self-Defense: Evolving Toward the Use of Preemptive or Preventive Force? Avery Plaw João Franco Reis 229

10 Restricting the Preventive Use of Force: Drones, the Struggle against Non-State Actors, and Jus ad Vim John Emery Daniel R. Brunstetter 257

11 Drones and Dirty Hands Ben Jones John M. Parrish 283

12 Beyond Preventive Force: Just Peace as Preventive Non- Intervention Deen Chatterjee 313

13 Conclusions Jennifer M. Ramos Kerstin Fisk 341

About the Contributors 349

Index 353

Editorial Reviews

"Few security issues have prompted as much political, legal, or ethical debate as the use of drones. This timely volume should be a go-to guide for the academics and policymakers who want to make sense of this important topic."

Sarah Kreps

"In uncertain and frightening times it is tempting to think that an ounce of preventiontargeted killing, drone strikeswill be the cure. And drones make preventive strikes easier than ever. Yet the hardest thing in this context is to know whether and when preventive uses of force might be justified and whether the strikes provide a cure or make us less safe. With clear and insightful essays, Preventive Force challenges us to think more carefully about the justice, wisdom, and utility of preventive drone strikes. These essays should be at the top of any reading list for informed citizens, and members of the military, CIA, National Security Council and Congress."

Neta C. Crawford

In uncertain and frightening times it is tempting to think that an ounce of prevention—targeted killing, drone strikes—will be the cure. And drones make preventive strikes easier than ever.
Yet the hardest thing in this context is to know whether and when preventive uses of force might be justified and whether the strikes provide a cure or make us less safe. With clear and insightful essays, Preventive Force challenges us to think more carefully about the justice, wisdom, and utility of preventive drone strikes. These essays should be at the top of any reading list for informed citizens, and members of the military,
CIA, National Security Council and Congress.”-Neta C. Crawford, author of Accountability for Killing: Moral Responsibility for Collateral Damage in America's Post-9/11 Wars

"Few security issues have prompted as much political, legal, or ethical debate as the use of drones. This timely volume should be a go-to guide for the academics and policymakers who want to make sense of this important topic."-Sarah Kreps,author of Drones: What Everyone Needs to Know

From the Publisher