Drones
320 Articles
Killing a Cleric: Many More Questions Than Answers
Yesterday, Ryan wrote about the killing, presumably by US drone, of Ibrahim al-Rubaysan, an alleged leading cleric of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Ryan presumes that…
The Targeted Killing That Wasn’t: What We Can Learn From the Case of Mohanad Mahmoud al-Farekh
A 2009 US Air Force photo titled “Ready to hunt” shows an armed MQ-9 Reaper drone taxiing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Almost two weeks ago, we learned from the Washington…
Whatever became of the Votel transparency proposal concerning drone strikes in Yemen?
The Open Society Justice Initiative yesterday released a report alleging that nine U.S. drone strikes in Yemen between May 2012 and April 2014 each resulted in civilian casualties,…
The Unreal Secrecy About Drone Killings
Last year, after concluding that many passages in the document “no longer merited secrecy,” the Second Circuit published a redacted version of the Justice Department’s July…
Guest Post: To Ban New Weapons or Regulate Their Use?
In January, I highlighted the apparent anomaly of international law’s ban on laser weapons that are “specifically designed … to cause permanent blindness” while permitting…
Defining “Meaningful Human Control” Over Autonomous Weapons
A semi-autonomous X-47B drone aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in 2013. Image Credit: US Navy via Wikimedia. What is the appropriate role of autonomy and human…
It’s Time for an International Drone Accountability Regime
Editors’ note. This piece is a preview of a new article by the authors published in the Spring 2015 issue of Ethics and International Affairs. Lethal drones are being used…
Deep Dive: The White House’s New Memo on Drones and Privacy
Last month, President Obama released a presidential memorandum on the domestic use of drones by federal agencies. The memorandum addresses the implications for privacy, civil rights,…
Beyond Drones: The Next-Generation of Autonomous Weapons Cannot be Developed in Secrecy
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Washington’s New Drone Sales Policy Could Export US-Style Drone War
This week, the United States released a new policy for the export of US-made drones. The policy conditions any drone sale on a pledge by the foreign buyer government that it will…
Is it Possible to Ban Autonomous Weapons in Cyberwar?
Political and technological developments have often spurred responses from international humanitarian law (IHL). We already have a good sense of the major questions on the agenda…
Drones, the FATA, the President’s remarks . . . and the prospect of greater transparency
Editors’ Note: This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous…