"Legitimacy and Drones" edited by Steven J. Barela

We're pleased to announce a new book edited by Steven J. Barela, LL.M., Ph.D. entitled "Legitimacy and Drones: Investigating the Legality, Morality and Efficacy of UCAVs" at Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Unmanned combat air vehicles—i.e. ‘drones’—have become a prominent instrument in US efforts to counter objective (and subjective) cross-border terrorist threats with lethal force. As a result, critical questions abound on the legitimacy of their use. In a series of multidisciplinary essays by scholars with extensive knowledge of international norms, this book explores the question of legitimacy through the conceptual lenses of legality, morality and efficacy; it then closes with the consideration of a policy proposal aimed at incorporating all three indispensable elements. This book seeks to come to grips with the new reality of drone warfare by exploring if it can be used to preserve, rather than eat away at, legitimacy.

Targeted killing by remote-control with unmanned drones may be the future face of war. Drones reduce the cost of using force, and tempt states to resort to force more readily. Legitimacy and Drones brings together a multinational group of scholars to ask all the right questions—when are drones lawful, ethical, and effective, and what limits must be imposed on their use. An invaluable collection on one of the most pressing issues of our time.
— David Cole, Georgetown University Law Center, USA  

This timely, rich and occasionally provocative volume will help set the parameters of debate and legal reflection on the vital questions posed by the use of drones, not least the fundamental relationship between legality, morality and legitimacy.
— Philippe Sands QC, University College London, UK