Can Drones Be Just?

War can be defined as “an organized and deliberate political act by an established political authority, which must cause 1,000 or more deaths in a twelve-month period, and which requires at least two actors capable of harming each other” (253, Mingst.) This is a broad definition as war can take several different forms, categorized in various ways. Today, the United States is engaged in the War on Terror. In a post-9/11 world, terrorist attacks are even greater sources of fear to citizens, as well as massive threats to national and international security. Over the past few decades, terrorists have been successful in increasing support and achieving political aims. This poses a major security dilemma to victims, such as the United States. It is this sense of insecurity that leads to military action. Any sense of threat is likely to send a nation to arms (251-252, Mingst.) The U.S. government thus must decide as to what the best course of action would be, in protecting the nation. Over the past decade, drone use has increased exponentially for this purpose. These unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are often used in attempts to eliminate terrorism. While it is evident that terrorism poses massive threats to the nation, drone strikes are not conducive to a just war.

Terrorism can be specifically classified as asymmetric conflict, or a ”war between political actors of equal strength, in which the weaker party tries to neutralize its opponent’s strength by exploiting the opponent’s weaknesses” (A16, Glossary, Mingst.) Terrorist groups pose a great security threat, on an international scale (278, Mingst.) As terrorist groups increase in size and influence, the threat on security grows as well. The question then arises as to how to eli...

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...he United States itself inflicts a great deal of terror on the targeted nation, harming innocent people as well.

Works Cited

Suebsaeng, Asawin. "Drones: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Always Afraid to Ask." Mother Jones. N.p., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .

Mingst, Karen A. Essentials of International Relations. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. Print.

Mingst, Karen A., and Jack L. Snyder. Essential Readings in World Politics. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

Mingst, Karen A., and Jack L. Snyder. Robert Jervis, Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma. Essential Readings in World Politics. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.

Mingst, Karen A., and Jack L. Snyder. Andrew H. Kydd and Barbara F. Walter, The Strategies of Terrorism. Essential Readings in World Politics. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.