Ethics for National Security Decisionmakers: "It's Not Always Easy to do Well and Right"
Abstract
Throughout U.S. history, unethical practices by government officials have occurred. Unethical behavior by government officials undermines the public trust and confidence in our democratic form of government. In a recent survey of public administrators about their perceptions of ethics in government, over 60 percent of those who responded agreed that society "suffers from a moral numbness following a decade of government scandals." Corrupt and unethical practices have occurred in almost every level of U.S. Government, from the highest government officials to the lowest. Many of these unethical practices have been carried out by national security officials. Some examples that come immediately to mind include a President resigning because of unethical behavior; military enlisted men being found guilty of selling some of the nation's most precious secrets to foreign powers, not for ideological reasons but for money; Department of Defense civilian employees selling secrets to defense contractors; an Assistant Secretary of State allegedly not reporting, as required, known Israeli violations of defense trade controls to the Congress; and, a military officer serving in the Office of the National Security Advisor dealing in weapons. This paper focuses on the following questions: (1) What do we mean by ethics and ethical dilemmas, and why are "ethics programs" so important for national security decision makers?; (2) Are there extraordinary pressures in the decision-making environment for national security officials?; (3) What efforts are underway in national security agencies to increase decision makers' awareness of ethics and equip officials with tools to identify and analyze values and resolve dilemmas?; and (4) What is needed to train for and institutionalize ethical decision-making approaches?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA262216
Entities
People
- Beverly C. Lovelady
Organizations
- Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy