IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2016 - 24

terms of the "social contract," an
implicit agreement between the
State and its citizens, and between
the State and its military force, as
to the moral and political obligations that each bears towards the
others. According to this agreement, the primary justification
for the existence of States is their
status as the entity most able to
provide protection and security for
their citizens. On that basis citizens entrust their security to the
State, and the State monopolizes
the right to employ armed violence
in the protection of its citizens.
Similarly, the State delegates most
of its protective responsibilities to
its military force, and the military
force is obliged to be as efficient
and effective as possible in providing that protection to citizens,
in terms of the costs it incurs in
both lives and resources. Thus, the
author argues, states and their military forces bear an ethical obligation to employ unmanned systems
to the extent that such systems
offer a more effective or efficient
means of fulfilling the military's
protective responsibilities.
The reader should note,
though, that social contract theor y has been subject to many
criticisms over its long histor y
from a variety of philosophical
perspectives, with many writers
questioning the extent to which it
accurately accounts for the experiences of all citizens in a state, or
the spectrum of moral and political obligations they bear. Most
recently, several authors have
noted the increasing inadequacy
of a model that assumes that the
state is the sole protector of its
citizens, or that it has a monopoly on the use of armed violence.
The author's argument could perhaps benefit by addressing such
criticisms, as the reader is left
wondering to what extent they

24

undermine the asserted obligation
to employ unmanned systems.
As a framework for exploring the
reasons for restraint in use of
unmanned systems, the author
relies on just war theory, while noting that we may need to rethink
how we apply its principles to
unmanned systems. Just war theory, which pervades much of western
thought on military ethics, deals
with the justification of how and
why wars are fought, specifying sets
of principles for judging when it is
permissible for a state to go to war,
and conditions for how that war
should be fought. As explained in
this book, a decision to wage war
must be made with a just cause
in mind, with right intention, by a
right authority, with a reasonable
chance of success, be proportional
such that the anticipated total good
outweighs the anticipated total bad,
and be a last resort. The war must
then be conducted such that only
appropriate (military) targets are
attacked, and the harm resulting
from any military action does not
outweigh the good. It is noted that
the applicability of just war theory
to modern warfare in general, and
to unmanned warfare in particular, has been critiqued by several
authors; unlike the discussion of
social contract theory, though, a
solid defense of the usefulness of
just war theory is presented before
the theory is used to discuss reasons for caution in development
and use of unmanned systems.
The greater part of the book is
devoted to detailed discussion of the
ways in which the principles of just
war theory may be violated by use of
unmanned systems in warfare, and
the reasons for caution and further
regulation. The range of ethical considerations discussed is wide, covering observations about the effects
of unmanned warfare on those who
operate unmanned systems as well
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

as on those who may be targeted
or otherwise affected by them, and
the effects on the practice of warfare
itself. The reader will be able to directly relate many of the points raised to
arguments made in other forums as
well as to events being reported in
the popular media, with the added
advantage of having an explanation
of the ethical theoretical basis of each
argument. The author relates many of
these concerns to notions of the "risk
economy," wherein states attempt
to transfer the risks of armed conflict away from themselves to others,
sometimes to enemy combatants but
sometimes to civilians. The notion
of risk transfer, as discussed in this
book and in the references provided,
has much explanatory power beyond
the topic of unmanned systems, and
will be of benefit to all those readers
engaged in study of the Western practice of war.
Of particular interest, given the
prevailing situation in the Middle
East, is the discussion of post-war
responsibility, the "third tenet"
of just war theory. This body of
thought is concerned with whether the termination phase of a war
is just, and investigates the obligations of states to work towards
post-war reconstruction of affected
societies, with a view to achieving
stability and lasting peace. It is a
relatively recent addition to just war
theory and has received much less
academic attention than the first
two tenets discussed above, with
current thinking being described
as "in its infancy." Views on what
constitutes just action in the termination of a war range from merely restoring the state of affairs to
that which existed prior to the conflict, up to taking active steps to
avoid future conflict by assisting
in long-term reconstruction efforts.
The view taken in this book is that
the aim of a just war is the vindication of the fundamental rights
∕

june 2016



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