Killing Norms Softly: US Targeted Killing, Quasi-secrecy and the Assassination Ban

Banka, Andris; Quinn, Adam

doi:10.1080/09636412.2018.1483633

Cited by 22 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…If the gun marked an extension of the bow’s capacity to kill at a distance and the plane an extension of the gun’s, then the drone extends the capacity of the plane, whose range was always limited by the pilot’s need for sustenance, sleep, and exercise. As Samuel Moyn has documented, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations drastically expanded drone use to wage evermore “humane” wars over ever-increasing distances, eroding long-held norms in the process (2021, 233–312; similarly, Banka and Adam 2018). Although one could interpret this optimistically, IR scholars have found “the use of drones shields the public from the consequences and costs of war, which prevents the public backlash that restrains leaders from conducting wars” (Kaag and Kreps 2014, 16).…”

Section: War and World Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Clarkson

2023

Political Research Quarterly

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The return of war in Europe has renewed the urgency of understanding war’s role in the interstate system. Although many theorists take a progressive view in which war is withering away, others argue war remains a recurrent feature of political life. This article contributes to theoretical debates about war’s ongoing significance by systematically reconstructing Hegel’s theory of war and its relevance for understanding war’s persistence. Historically, Hegel thinks war has taken increasingly rational forms over time, though, contrary to optimistic interpretations, this points to enmity’s distillation rather than its elimination. Causally, Hegel suggests war occurs because the lack of a power above states capable of adjudicating conflicting rights and the consequent struggle to enforce one’s formally valid claims against those who could substantively deny them. Ethically, Hegel holds war is a necessary evil which, abstractly, ought to end. However, since war teaches citizens that their good is tied to the good of the community as a whole, thereby restraining civil society’s encroachments on the political, Hegel denies the end of war would be an absolute ethical good. By systematically reconstructing Hegel’s views on war, this article sheds new light on war’s role in the system of European states.

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Section: War and World Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Clarkson

2023

Political Research Quarterly

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“…Scholars might argue that topics such as covert operations or ongoing trade negotiations have no methodological alternative to these materials. However, open sources can yield major insights even on sensitive subjects like targeted killings via drone strikes (Banka and Quinn 2018). And regarding host-country political and social conditions, diplomats' classified reports are not necessarily more accurate than, and frequently rely on, local media.…”

Section: Data Richnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Provenance Problem: Research Methods and Ethics in the Age of WikiLeaks

Darnton

2021

Am Polit Sci Rev

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How should political scientists navigate the ethical and methodological quandaries associated with analyzing leaked classified documents and other nonconsensually acquired sources? Massive unauthorized disclosures may excite qualitative scholars with policy revelations and quantitative researchers with big-data suitability, but they are fraught with dilemmas that the discipline has yet to resolve. This paper critiques underspecified research designs and opaque references in the proliferation of scholarship with leaked materials, as well as incomplete and inconsistent guidance from leading journals. It identifies provenance as the primary concept for improved standards and reviews other disciplines’ approaches to this problem. It elaborates eight normative and evidentiary criteria for scholars by which to assess source legitimacy and four recommendations for balancing their trade-offs. Fundamentally, it contends that scholars need deeper reflection on source provenance and its consequences, more humility about whether to access new materials and what inferences to draw, and more transparency in citation and research strategies.

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“…Recently, a third wave of research has focused on norm strength, with a particular interest in the causes of noncompliance and norm decay (Adler-Nissen 2014; Evers 2017). Work in this wave is again oriented around specific norms, such as those related to torture (D'Ambruoso 2015), and targeted killing (Banka and Quinn 2018).…”

Section: Reification As An Ontological Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Just the facts: why norms remain relevant in an age of practice

Evers

2019

Int. Theory

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Reification – the act of treating something socially created as if it were real – is often described as a problem in the study of international norms. Critical and post-colonial scholars argue that reification silences alternative worldviews, whereas practice-oriented scholars argue it diminishes agency and practical innovation. In his article ‘From Norms to Normative Configurations,’ Simon Pratt proposes a solution to the problem of reification, reconceiving norms as a configuration of interrelated social practices. In this piece, I argue that the conventional wisdom is wrong. Reification is an essential part of how norms are constructed, contested, and surmounted in international politics. I revisit the foundational figures in norms research to highlight problems in Pratt's analysis, and prove the value of reification, both analytically and methodologically. Then, I use these insights to amend the concept of normative configuration, redefining it as a complex network of discrete norms tied together through common social practices. Along the way, I offer directions for future research on the relationship between norms and practices.

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Killing Norms Softly: US Targeted Killing, Quasi-secrecy and the Assassination Ban

Cited by 22 publications

References 4 publications

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

The Provenance Problem: Research Methods and Ethics in the Age of WikiLeaks

Just the facts: why norms remain relevant in an age of practice

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