PANEL 14 / NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE ETHICS OF WAR AND PEACE
CONVENORS: SARA CRUZ and ISAAC TAYLOR (Stockholm University)
All enquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected] and [email protected].
The pace and extent to which warfare has changed in the last two decades is unprecedented. With its beginnings in the War on Terror, the prevalence of cutting-edge technologies and AI on the battlefield soon became the hallmark of this military revolution, a development often justified by the heightened capabilities of the former. Inevitably, these changes reverberated into the political, legal and academic domains, which are now trying to adapt to the ever-changing complexities of contemporary warfare. First and foremost, the ubiquity of these technologies allows conflicts to migrate from once well establish borders in ways that would be impossible otherwise. Likewise, they’ve contributed to the erosion between the military and civilian distinction at the heart of the war convention. This became particularly evident in contexts of urban warfare such as Syria, Ukraine and Gaza. Other worries arise once we delve into AI applicability in the context of cyberwarfare and the information domain, particularly in the age of extreme polarization where controlling narratives is the ultimate military advantage. In Ukraine, fear and empathy led many citizens to mobilize, either by crowdfunding for and developing their own drones, or engaging more directly through apps that signal suspected enemy presence to their military. Here again, the blurring between civilian and military has
proved convenient for leaders attempting to sanitize their misdeeds, who now place the onus either upon civilians – for their alleged complicity – or the enemy – for using civilians as human shields. But the use of new technologies is not the only aspect of contemporary warfare that warrants examination by philosophers. The Russian invasion of Ukraine paved the way for highly militarized narratives that emphasize the need to invest in and reform defense sector. An obvious example is the resurgence of debates about a hypothetical return to conscription models of recruitment which, despite the difficulties that it entails, was able to gain some traction as the prospects of escalation became more tangible. Yet, as the war continues and combatants’ morale subdues, a growing number of males – both Ukrainian and Russian – desperately try to evade the draft. For the privileged who can afford it, outsourcing emerges as the logical alternative although debates on the morality of resorting to private militaries remain equally controversial. Moreover, current conflicts expose a paradox at the core of contemporary warfare: while the advent of technology and automation could (hypothetically) obviate the need for human soldiering, the truth is that humans are still, in fact, in high demand. But are there alternative ways of resisting aggression that might serve us better?
In light of all these trends, this panel will provide the opportunity for under-researched topics in the ethics of war and peace to be discussed. We welcome papers on a wide variety of subjects, including, but not limited to, the ethical issues surrounding new ways of fighting war, the moral permissibility of recruitment strategies, and a reconsideration of alternative ethical theories of warfare to the dominant just war paradigm.
Possible topics include
All enquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected] and [email protected].
The pace and extent to which warfare has changed in the last two decades is unprecedented. With its beginnings in the War on Terror, the prevalence of cutting-edge technologies and AI on the battlefield soon became the hallmark of this military revolution, a development often justified by the heightened capabilities of the former. Inevitably, these changes reverberated into the political, legal and academic domains, which are now trying to adapt to the ever-changing complexities of contemporary warfare. First and foremost, the ubiquity of these technologies allows conflicts to migrate from once well establish borders in ways that would be impossible otherwise. Likewise, they’ve contributed to the erosion between the military and civilian distinction at the heart of the war convention. This became particularly evident in contexts of urban warfare such as Syria, Ukraine and Gaza. Other worries arise once we delve into AI applicability in the context of cyberwarfare and the information domain, particularly in the age of extreme polarization where controlling narratives is the ultimate military advantage. In Ukraine, fear and empathy led many citizens to mobilize, either by crowdfunding for and developing their own drones, or engaging more directly through apps that signal suspected enemy presence to their military. Here again, the blurring between civilian and military has
proved convenient for leaders attempting to sanitize their misdeeds, who now place the onus either upon civilians – for their alleged complicity – or the enemy – for using civilians as human shields. But the use of new technologies is not the only aspect of contemporary warfare that warrants examination by philosophers. The Russian invasion of Ukraine paved the way for highly militarized narratives that emphasize the need to invest in and reform defense sector. An obvious example is the resurgence of debates about a hypothetical return to conscription models of recruitment which, despite the difficulties that it entails, was able to gain some traction as the prospects of escalation became more tangible. Yet, as the war continues and combatants’ morale subdues, a growing number of males – both Ukrainian and Russian – desperately try to evade the draft. For the privileged who can afford it, outsourcing emerges as the logical alternative although debates on the morality of resorting to private militaries remain equally controversial. Moreover, current conflicts expose a paradox at the core of contemporary warfare: while the advent of technology and automation could (hypothetically) obviate the need for human soldiering, the truth is that humans are still, in fact, in high demand. But are there alternative ways of resisting aggression that might serve us better?
In light of all these trends, this panel will provide the opportunity for under-researched topics in the ethics of war and peace to be discussed. We welcome papers on a wide variety of subjects, including, but not limited to, the ethical issues surrounding new ways of fighting war, the moral permissibility of recruitment strategies, and a reconsideration of alternative ethical theories of warfare to the dominant just war paradigm.
Possible topics include
- Civilian complicity and noncombatant immunity
- AI, UAV’s and cyberwarfare
- The ethics of recruitment: conscription and the resort to private military contractors
- Alternatives to War
- Pacifism and nonviolent resistance
