The Year in Review – 2012 Posts

 

The Logic of Deterrence and the Changing Face of Warfare

CERL hosts conference, “The Logic of Deterrence and the Changing Face of Warfare,” Nov. 16-17

November 14, 2012
The Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) is hosting this conference on The Logic of Deterrence and the Changing Face of Warfare , on Friday, November 16 in UPenn Law’s Shuster Court Room, 147 Silverman Hall, then at other locations in Philadelphia.The two day-long conference will bring together leading authorities in philosophy, the law, technology, and from the military to address the ethical and legal issues surrounding the logic of deterrence, both theoretical and practical, which dominated the literature on just war theory during the Cold War, but will bring this to a more contemporary focus on present-day and future deterrence challenges. Despite diminished attention, the topic remains of vital importance to the current national security concerns, playing a central role in debates over Cyberwarfare and the use of non-conventional weapons or strategies. This Roundtable seeks to revive traditional discussions about the logic of deterrence, but to place this topic in a contemporary setting. Many of the former questions at the intersection of rational choice theory and ethics apply with renewed force in a post-Cold War world: Is it permissible to threaten to do something it would not otherwise be permissible to do? Does precommitment to an otherwise impermissible course of action render it permissible, given that it is accompanied by advance warning? Does deterrence require public notice to constitute a legitimate public policy? These older theoretical questions prove particularly challenging in an age of highly advanced technologies of war. How does deterrence work if the threatened attack cannot be traced back to the state that launched it? How should deterrence theory handle enemies whose actions are highly unpredictable and decentralized, and where the primary actors might not be interested in sparing civilian lives or even avoiding their own death? Is it legitimate to issue threats of kinetic action to deter a Cyber attack? Given the complexities of modern warfare and counter terrorism operations, the challenges of deterrent theory are now ripe for reexamination.A complete conference schedule and list of participants are available via Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law website. To inquire about, and RSVP for, future conferences, please contact Jennifer Evans.

CERL is a non-partisan, interdisciplinary institute dedicated to the maintenance and development of rule of law values in society. Given potential threats to the rule of law in the wake of the sharply increased security needs of American society after 9/11, CERL focuses on the ethical and legal dimensions of national security, and addresses recent debates having to do with the changing face of warfare, the impact of enhanced security needs on rule of law values, the ethics of interrogation and detention, and the growing importance of international humanitarian law.

Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics

SUMMER ETHICS FELLOWSHIPS FOR LAW STUDENTS FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) is now accepting applications for a fellowship that uses the conduct of lawyers and judges in Nazi Germany as a launching point for an intensive two-week early summer program about contemporary legal ethics. Fellowships include an all-expense paid trip from New York to Berlin, Krakow, and Oświęcim (Auschwitz) where students will work with leading faculty to explore both legal history and the ethical issues facing lawyers today. All program costs, including international and European travel, lodging, and food, are covered. Details are at: https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/cerl/fellowshipsandjobs/FASPEFellowships.pdf

The tentative program dates for FASPE Law are May 26 – June 6, 2013.

Completed applications must be received by January 11, 2013. Candidates of all religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

To apply please click on http://www.mjhnyc.org/faspe/

If you have any questions, please contact Thorin Tritter, Managing Director of FASPE, at ttritter@FASPE.info.

Roundtable on Cyberwar and the Rule of Law – October 15, 2012

CERL hosted conference, “Cyberwar and the Rule of Law,” Oct. 15

October 17, 2012
The Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) hosed the roundtable conference, “Cyberwar and the Rule of Law,” on Monday, October 15 in Penn Law’s Shuster Court Room, 147 Silverman Hall.The day-long conference brought together leading authorities in the law, technology, and from the military to address the ethical and legal issues surrounding cyberwarfare and consideed such questions as whether the laws of armed conflict and the tenets of the U.N. Charter apply to cyberspace just as they do to traditional warfare, and whether the problems of cyberwarfare require new treaties and legal definitions. By understanding these issues now, experts and the public can be better prepared as cybersecurity becomes a more integral aspect of national security.Specifically, the conference panels examined such topics as: whether the offensive use cyberweapons is justified for national security; cyberwafare and international humanitarian law; cybersecurity, privacy, and police powers; and cybersecurity and the private sector. Keynote addresses were delivered by General (Ret.) James Cartwright, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Marine Corps, and by General John Davis, Deputy Commander, Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations, U.S. Army.

A complete conference schedule and list of participants are available via Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law website. To inquire about, and RSVP for, future conferences, please contact Jennifer Evans.

CERL is a non-partisan, interdisciplinary institute dedicated to the maintenance and development of rule of law values in society. Given potential threats to the rule of law in the wake of the sharply increased security needs of American society after 9/11, CERL focuses on the ethical and legal dimensions of national security, and addresses recent debates having to do with the changing face of warfare, the impact of enhanced security needs on rule of law values, the ethics of interrogation and detention, and the growing importance of international humanitarian law.

 

 

 

 

Military Legitimacy From Another Perspective? “In Paper, Chief of Egypt Army Criticized U.S.”

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In Paper, Chief of Egypt Army Criticized U.S.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and KAREEM FAHIM, NYTimes, August 16, 2012
As a student at the National War College in Washington, the chief of staff of Egypt’s armed forces argued in a paper (103010381-US-Mil-Presence-in-the-Mid-East-Issues-Prospects-by-Gen-Sedky-Sobhy-2005-US-Army-War-College) that the American military presence in the Middle East and its “one-sided” support of Israel were fueling hatred toward the United States and miring it in an unwinnable global war with Islamist militants.

 

University of Pennsylvania Establishes New Center for Ethics and Rule of Law (CERL)

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CERL is a non-partisan, interdisciplinary institute, dedicated to the maintenance and development of rule of law values in society. Given potential threats to the rule of law in the wake of the sharply increased security needs of American society after 9/11, CERL focuses on the ethical and legal dimensions of National Security, and addresses recent debates having to do with the changing face of warfare, the impact of the War on Terror on rule of law values, the ethics of interrogation and detention, the relation between United States security needs and international humanitarian law.

Asymmetric Warfare: The Strait of Hormuz and Future Crises

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JURIST Guest Columnist Kevin Govern of the Ave Maria School of Law says that the recent confrontation between a US warship and a foreign vessel in the Strait of Hormuz is the most recent in a history of incidents where time-tested tactics have shaped the economic and political security of the Gulf region…

Kevin Govern, Asymmetric Warfare: The Strait of Hormuz and Future Crises, JURIST – Forum, July 17, 2012, http://jurist.org/forum/2012/07/kevin-govern-hormuz-conflict.php.

Foreign Policy: A few words in defense of Colin S. Gray’s essay on COIN and our future strategy

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From FP Foreign Policy, Posted By Thomas E. Ricks, Friday June 22, 2012 – 10:31 AM By Adam Elkus

Best Defense COIN respondent

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/06/22/a_few_words_in_defense_of_colin_s_gray_s_essay_on_coin_and_our_future_strategy_2

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The Future Of Counterinsurgency: “West Point Is Divided on a War Doctrine’s Fate”

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By
See: At West Point Asking if a War Doctrine Was Worth It – NYTimes.com

* * * * *

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: May 30, 2012

An article on Monday about a debate at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., over the military doctrine of counterinsurgency misstated the number of cadets who graduated from the academy on Saturday. There were 972 graduates, not 1,032. (Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. used the 1,032 number in his commencement address to the cadets.)

The ‘Great Game’ & the US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement

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JURIST Guest Columnist Kevin Govern of the Ave Maria School of Law says that determining the impact of the recently announced Strategic Partnership Agreement between the US and Afghanistan requires a look into the many interests vested in the region…

 

Barnes Wall Foundation of South Carolina Award to Cornell Law Scholar Louis Guard

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The Military Legitimacy Review (MLR) is pleased to announce that the Barnes Wall Foundation of South Carolina, after careful consideration and deliberation, has selected for its 2012 scholarship award Cornell Law School Class of 2012 Juris Doctor Candidate Louis Guard’s work entitled:

Targeted Killing and Just War: Reconciling Kill-Capture Missions, International Law, and the Combatant Civilian Framework

The Barnes Foundation, through the efforts of the MLR and also from recommendations of university and law faculty professors, sought nominations for this  award amongst many deserving student-candidates. Special thanks go to  Jens Ohlin, Associate Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, and Claire Finkelstein, the Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  Mr. Guard was a visiting scholar at University of Pennsylvania Law School when he completed this superb work regarding targeted killing and just war theory.  Mr. Guard’s impressive scholarship and work experience profile is available for viewing, and he can be congratulated, via his LinkedIn page online.

The award includes publication in MLR as well as a monetary prize ($500.00) given in this inaugural year of competition to Mr. Guard for having written the best paper on a topic related to military legitimacy.

The award is not intended to recognize a paper for academic credit in an independent study, but an award for the best paper in a class or group of 3 or more. The topic and paper should relate to legal and moral issues in military operations and/or strategy (e.g. democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and religion/cultural issues), with the winning paper being posted with the author’s permission on the Military Legitimacy Review (MLR) website at http://militarylegitimacyreview.com/

With this award a new cycle for 2013 begins, with submissions solicited for the next year’s competition encouraged and accepted through April 6th, 2013.  For additional details please contact the Editor in Chief of the MLR, Professor of Law Kevin Govern, via info@militarylegitimacyreview.com and / or khgovern@avemarialaw.edu for additional details.

In Afghan War, Officer Becomes a Whistle-Blower

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WASHINGTON — On his second yearlong deployment to Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis traveled 9,000 miles, patrolled with American troops in eight provinces and returned in October of last year with a fervent conviction that the war was going disastrously and that senior military leaders had not leveled with the American public.
A version of this article appeared in print on February 6, 2012, on page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: In Afghan War, an Officer and a Whistle-Blower.

New 2011 Military Legitimacy Review

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Issue #3, December 2011

Religion and the Rule of Law: Sharia, Democracy and Human Rights

For the full issue, click on 2011 Military Legitimacy Review via:

Military Legitimacy Review 2011

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