After twenty years of almost unbroken wars of choice, the ethical deficiencies in the operational conduct of war by Western armed forces have largely been ignored by scholarly critique. This volume addresses these deficiencies, featuring analysis by some of the UK's leading academics and military veterans working in the fields of military ethics and contemporary conflict.

Compiled in honour of Colonel David Benest OBE, a soldier-scholar who believed that ethics should be central to an effective military education, the book focuses on problems ranging from the practicalities of how to conduct a counterinsurgency campaign in one of the most challenging combat zones in the world to the failure to account properly for defeat during military conflicts. This important volume explores critical questions perennially raised about the role of the military in a democratic society and the extent to which its ideals are compromised in fighting wars of choice.

An analysis of the British military as an ethical and professional actor.

About the Author

Frank Ledwidge is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Law at the University of Portsmouth, UK. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Losing Small Wars (2011), which was selected as a 'Book of the Year' by The Times.

Aaron Edwards is a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK. He is the author of numerous books including Strategy in War and Peace: A Critical Introduction (2017) and War: A Beginner's Guide (2016).

Helen Parr is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Keele, UK. She is the author of Our Boys: The Story of a Paratrooper (2018) which won the Templer Medal Book Prize, the Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History, the Longman-History Today Book Prize and was Longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing.

Reviews
At a time when alleged moral and legal transgressions by the British Armed Forces are being highlighted in the press and public conscience, this volume explores how and why things can go wrong. It is also an excellent reminder of the many principled people who strive in the most difficult of circumstances to do the right thing. * Professor David Whetham, Director of the Centre for Military Ethics, King's College London, UK *
I readily recommend this book of essays, in memory of David Benest and the moral principles he stood for, to the profession of arms and those who study them and their use. The essays pose many questions - questions that should be considered and answered before and during any endeavour of force of arms and frequently are not.' * General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM *



Book Information
ISBN 9781350335523
Author Frank Ledwidge
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC