Book

Armed drones and globalization in the asymmetric war on terror : challenges for the law of armed conflict and global politic economy

Fred Aja Agwu

New York ; London : Routledge, 2018

XV, p. 342 p. ; 24 cm

978-1-138-56693-4

English

Bibliographie : p. 325-330. Index

This book is a critical exploration of the war on terror from the prism of armed drones and globalization. It is particularly focused on the United States’ use of the drones, and the systemic dysfunctions that globalization has caused to international political economy and national security. To underline the controversial nature of the "war on terror" and the pragmatic weapon (armed drones) fashioned for its prosecution, some of the elements of this controversy have been interrogated in this book. They include the doubt over whether the war should have been declared in the first place because terrorist attacks hardly meet the United Nations’ casus belli – an armed attack. Some critics believe that the "war on terror" is not an armed conflict properly so called, and, thus, remains only a "law enforcement issue." The United States and all the states taking part in the war on terror are obligated to observe International Humanitarian Law (IHL). It is within this context of IHL that this book appraises the drone as a weapon of engagement, discussing such issues as "personality" and "signature" strikes as well as the implications of the deployment of spies as drone strikers rather than the Defence Department, the members of the U.S armed forces.