Michael Boyle

Identifies some of the chief legal and ethical problems associated with targeted killings by drone.

Discusses how the rise of China, Russia, and other authoritarian states and the decline of liberal democracy in the West is producing a new international order favorable to the interests and values of illiberal states.

Analyzes the destabilizing impact of the spread of drone technology on interstate bargaining, deterrence and crisis negotiations.

Explains how and why post-conflict states remain violent, even when peace settlements remain intact. Provides original data and case studies from Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, East Timor, Rwanda, and Iraq.

Offers a sustained critique of the practice of targeted killing outside declared war zones by drones. Suggests that the practice is strategically ineffective because it produces a backlash on the ground and undermines the legitimacy of the governments of the countries where those strikes occur. Argues that U.S. practice will establish a normative precedent for unchecked targeted killings by other states.

Criticizes U.S. policy in places like Afghanistan and Iraq which assumes that counterterrorism and counterinsurgency missions can be conducted concurrently. Argues instead that these missions have different assumptions and that pursuing each mission produces unrecognized costs which undercuts the other's success.