Ethics at War

Deane-Peter Baker is Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Canberra. He is Director of the UNSW Military Ethics Research Lab and Innovation Network (MERLIN) and a co-convenor (with Professor David Kilcullen) of the UNSW Canberra Future Operations Research Group. Rufus Black is Vice Chancellor and President of the University of Tasmania. He has held a range of senior executive, academic, board, and advisory roles in the public, private, and education sectors in Australia including conducting major reviews for the Australian government on Defence and Security matters. Roger Herbert, following a 26-year career as a US Naval Special Warfare Officer, joined the faculty of the US Naval Academy, where he served until 2021 as the Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics and Director of the USNA’s core ethics course. Iain King is an author and defence expert with an extensive background in both ethics and conflict work; most recently he worked as Director of NATO’s Mission in Iraq. He led the UK’s government research programme into conflict and was a Fellow at the US-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as well as being an in-studio commentator for CNN and BBC.

1. Introduction Part I: Theory 2. The Ethical Triangulation Model 3. The Moral Deliberation Roadmap: The US Naval Academy’s Moral Reasoning Framework 4. The Quasi-Utilitarian Approach to Decision-Making in War 5. A Natural Law Basis for Military Ethics Part II: Analysis and Critique 6. Baker Response 7. Herbert Response 8. King Response 9. Black Response Afterword. A Concluding Reflection on Military Ethical Decision-Making