Strategic Deception in Modern Democracies: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges
Abstract
The use of strategic deception in war (or peace) is as old as governments and militaries. However, the nature and extent of its employment is a major concern for modern democracies. Although, by definition, strategic deception is an attempt to deceive an adversary, one can imagine any number of scenarios in which its unintended or spill-over effects could mislead the public at home, as well as the populace of one's allies and friends. To what extent would such unintended consequences undermine a state's credibility? For societies such as the United States that are predicated on the principle of holding governments accountable, strategic deception seems at best a necessary evil and at worst an unjustifiable and dangerous assault on core values. The term strategic deception itself brings with it a great deal of baggage that makes objective discussion of it extremely difficult. In an effort to strip away some of that baggage and get at the root of the nature, extent, and potential applications of strategic deception, the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS) and the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) held a conference on October 31-November 1, 2003, at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The purpose of the conference was to address the ethical, legal, and policy challenges that arise when democratic governments use deception. The Center for the Study of Professional Military Ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy and Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics participated as cosponsors. Presenters and attendees included military historians, philosophers and ethicists, members of the military and intelligence communities, lawyers, businessmen, and members of the press.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA430490
Entities
People
- Antulio Echevarria Ii
- Carolyn Pumphrey
Organizations
- United States Army War College