Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues (Introduction)

Abstract

The Bush administration detained and tortured suspected terrorists. The Obama administration assassinates them. Assassination off the battlefield, or targeted killing, not only causes more resentment against the United States, it is also illegal. In this book, an interdisciplinary collection of essays edited by Professor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, human rights and political activists, policy analysts, lawyers and legal scholars (including Professor Cohn), a philosopher, a journalist, and a sociologist examine different aspects of the U.S. policy of targeted killing by drones and other methods. The book explores the legal, moral, and geopolitical considerations of targeted killing and resulting civilian casualties, and evaluates the impact on relations between the United States and affected countries.

Keywords: drones, targeted killing, assassination, just war, United Nations Charter, civilian casualties, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, use of military force, U.S. foreign policy

JEL Classification: K19, K33