This paper explores the practical ethical challenges faced by a military commander in a coalition environment when that partner does not appear to share the same ethical values. Should one intervene? If one accepts that ethical standards are not absolute, does one have any kind of justification in interfering in such a situation? The implications and validity of ethical relativism are explored and challenged and then a framework is proposed to allow a structured approach to decision-making in such situations that balances considerations of the specific act against the implications in a broader context. Such a framework can be used whether or not ethical relativism is accepted as a valid explanation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.