Politics, Death, and Morality in US Foreign Policy

Abstract

In this companion piece to Dr. Record's article on "Force-Protection Fetishism," Dr. Mueller provides a balanced perspective on casualty aversion and its potential implications in military operations and on national security policy. He argues that aversion has become "cultish" due largely to technological changes in warfare that make it more feasible and, therefore, a moral imperative to conduct less brutish combat. Yet, he points out that moral obligation may just as well dictate dying for the right cause and that such morality, rather than politically expedient doctrines, should drive our policy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA517080

Entities

People

  • Karl P. Mueller

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Casualties
  • Cold War
  • Collateral Damage
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Force Protection
  • Foreign Policy
  • Guided Weapons
  • High Altitude
  • Information Operations
  • International Relations
  • Military Operations
  • Morals (Social Psychology)
  • National Security
  • Nato
  • United States
  • Warfare
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies