POLSC401: Ethics and Public Policy

7a. Identify ethical dilemmas that policymakers may face in dealing with issues of national security, military affairs, intelligence operations, and war

• Define and explain the relationship between war and ethics.
• What are some of the main ethical questions relating to the use of chemical and nuclear weapons?
• What role does international law play in the ethics of war?
• What is the difference between prisoners of war and enemy combatants?
• How should policymakers differentiate between soldiers and civilians?
• Define the military policy from 1993 to 2011 regarding LGBTQ soldiers, don't ask don't tell (DADT).

While some consider wartime to be a time when combatants ignore societal and ethical rules and conventions, policymakers have long attempted to create rules to make warfare more ethical. Examples of ethical dilemmas include defining legitimate military targets, how to create international laws on the rules of warfare, and the place of nuclear weapons in modern conflict.

For example, is a military base that includes soldiers and civilian workers a legitimate military target? How about a hospital or school? Is it ever ethical for a country to use chemical or nuclear weapons? Should soldiers be allowed to torture, maim, or kill an unarmed prisoner of war? How about a child soldier who was drafted into the army? Should military leaders or politicians have the right to restrict the rights of LGBTQ soldiers who want to serve their country?

Review these questions from the framework of someone who supports 1. virtue ethics (Aristotle), 2. deontology (Kant), 3. utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill), 4. the common good and 5. a fairness approach (Rawls).

Review the articles on this website Ethics of War; Precision Attack and International Humanitarian Law by Michael N. Schmitt; Enemy Combatant Detainees by Jennifer Elsea and Michael John Garcia; and Ethical Issues in Counterterrorism Warfare by Martin Cook, and Homosexuals and the U.S. Military: Current Issues by David F. Burrelli and Jody Feder.

7b. Analyze ethical dilemmas involving issues of national security, military affairs, intelligence operations, and war

• Define national security.
• Define and describe the difference between a state actor and a terrorist organization. 
• Define and describe the ethical issues related to torture.
• Define and describe the ethical dilemma psychologists face when asked to participate in enhanced interrogation techniques.

• What role do global institutions, such as the United Nations International Court of Justice, play in deciding questions about human rights, humanitarian concerns, and warfare? What limitations do these arbiters of human rights face in the international arena?

Identifying ethical dilemmas related to national security is relatively easy since there are few easy answers. For example, should policymakers consider national security issues when making ethical decisions about chemical and nuclear weapons or torture? What are the limits of human rights, humanitarian concerns, and international law when it comes to warfare? 

Review these questions from the framework of someone who supports 1. virtue ethics (Aristotle), 2. deontology (Kant), 3. utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill), 4. the common good and 5. a fairness approach (Rawls).

Review The Problem of Dirty Hands by C.A.J. Coady; the Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld; The War on Terrorism: Its Moral Justification and Limits by Peter Simpson; and The Moral Debate about Torture with Shaun Casey and Jean Bethke Elshtain.

Unit 7 Vocabulary

• Chemical weapons
• Civilian
• Don't ask, don't tell (DADT)
• Enemy combatant
• Enhanced interrogation techniques
• Humanitarian concern
• Human rights
• International court of justice
• International law
• Legitimate military targets
• National security
• Nuclear weapons
• Prisoners of war
• State actor
• Terrorist organization
• Torture
• United Nations International Court of Justice
• War