Military Ethics

Synonyms

Ethical Warfare; Organization Evil; Professional Ethics; Organizational Ethics Climate; Military Ethical Challenges; Military Ethic

Introduction

Societal concern regarding military ethics predates modern history, with writings on the topic dating at least as far back as the Peloponnesian Wars. Despite numerous changes in focus throughout the centuries, any discussion of military ethics has always been, by its very nature, an inevitably complex and frequently contradictory process, in large part as a result of the typical actions not only expected but routinely and universally required of a professional military. In essence, military forces are to defeat an enemy primarily by taking lives and inflicting destruction, which in itself could be considered an unethical undertaking despite often being arguably justified by so-called just war or national security, or more provocatively as Von Clausewitz suggests in his treatise On War, for political ends. The seminal question then...