Targeted killing: a ‘dirty hands’ analysis

Wijze, Stephen De

doi:10.1080/13569770903118762

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…So, if an armed intervention is principally deemed morally permissible (out of responsibility), it "becomes untenable to hold that political assassination [i.e. targeted killing] is impermissible in principle" (Altman & Wellman, 2008, p. 228;de Wijze, 2009). For several states that are among the core contributors to the debate about the Responsibility to Protect, this concept has solidified a particular normative understanding of the notion of their own sovereignty.…”

Section: The Current Transformation Of Targeted Killingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transformation of Targeted Killing and International Order

Senn

Troy

2020

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This article introduces the special issue's question of whether and how the current transformation of targeted killing is transforming the global international order and provides the conceptual ground for the individual contributions to the special issue. It develops a two-dimensional concept of political order and introduces a theoretical framework that conceives the maintenance and transformation of international order as a dynamic interplay between its behavioral dimension in the form of violence and discursive processes and its institutional dimension in the form of ideas, norms, and rules. The article also conceptualizes targeted killing and introduces a typology of targeted-killing acts on the basis of their legal and moral legitimacy. Building on this conceptual groundwork, the article takes stock of the current transformation of targeted killing and summarizes the individual contributions to this special issue.

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Section: The Current Transformation Of Targeted Killingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transformation of Targeted Killing and International Order

Senn

Troy

2020

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“…As for the source, a number of recent studies include the criterion of state sponsorship (e.g. Altman, 2012 , p. 5; David, 2003 , p. 112; de Wijze, 2009 , p. 308). Yet this narrow focus on state agency smuggles claims about the legitimacy of targeted killing into its definition.…”

Section: A Conceptualization Of Targeted Killingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So, if an armed intervention is principally deemed morally permissible (out of responsibility), it “becomes untenable to hold that political assassination [i.e. targeted killing] is impermissible in principle” (Altman & Wellman, 2008 , p. 228; de Wijze, 2009 ). For several states that are among the core contributors to the debate about the Responsibility to Protect, this concept has solidified a particular normative understanding of the notion of their own sovereignty.…”

Section: The Current Transformation Of Targeted Killingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transformation of targeted killing and international order

Senn

Troy

2017

Contemporary Security Policy

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This article introduces the special issue’s question of whether and how the current transformation of targeted killing is transforming the global international order and provides the conceptual ground for the individual contributions to the special issue. It develops a two-dimensional concept of political order and introduces a theoretical framework that conceives the maintenance and transformation of international order as a dynamic interplay between its behavioral dimension in the form of violence and discursive processes and its institutional dimension in the form of ideas, norms, and rules. The article also conceptualizes targeted killing and introduces a typology of targeted-killing acts on the basis of their legal and moral legitimacy. Building on this conceptual groundwork, the article takes stock of the current transformation of targeted killing and summarizes the individual contributions to this special issue.

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“…That thesis is inadequately 'static': it conceives of the conflict between morality and politics (or moral and political integrity) as a momentary, rare episode -a tragic, unfortunate anomaly which disrupts the normality of harmony. The allusions, popular amongst DH theorists, to 'innocence lost' and 'moral integrity violated or compromised' suggest this much (Walzer, 1973;de Wijze, 2005;2009;. The departing assumption of the DH thesis is an innocent or good man -a man of moral integrity -who, upon entering politics, is compelled to compromise his principles and momentarily forfeit his innocence and tarnish his integrity.…”

Section: Compromise Integrity and Democratic Politics: A Critique Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Integrity and Dirty Hands: Compromise and the Ambiguities of Betrayal

Tillyris

2016

Res Publica

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The claim that democratic politics is the art of compromise is a platitude but we seem allergic to compromise in politics when it happens. This essay explores this paradox. Taking my cue from Machiavelli's claim that there exists a rift between a morally admirable and a virtuous political life I argue that: i) a 'compromising disposition' is an ambiguous virtue -something which is politically expedient but not necessarily morally admirable; ii) whilst uncongenial to moral integrity, a 'compromising disposition' constitutes an essential part of political integrity. In so doing, I question certain moralistic assumptions which fuel contemporary vilifications of compromise -that, in theory, democratic politics should be inhospitable to compromise and that political integrity should be akin to moral integrity -and which are shared by Walzer's Dirty Hands thesis which professes to be sensitive to the realities of politics. These assumptions displace the complex realities of politics and misconstrue the standards of political excellence; they unsatisfactorily idealize political integrity and the messy context in which democratic politicians operate -a context characterized by a plurality of incompatible traditions, each with its own values and principles. Whilst commitment to a set of principles stemming from one's tradition or pre-election promises implies commitment to realize these, leading a virtuous political life amidst such a grubby domain often requires abandoning some of these. An innocent, all-or-nothing pursuit of one's principles in politics might prompt political disaster or defeat: an uncompromising disposition entails the entire abandonment of any hope of realizing all of those principles. KeywordsCompromise, political integrity, dirty hands, democratic politics, moral conflict, betrayal Politics, especially in its democratic form, it is often said, is the art of compromise (Wittman, 1995;Elshtain, 1995). And yet, despite being widely practiced in politics, compromise is largely ignored by philosophers Fumurescu, 2013). "Compromise", Margalit writes, seems "messy, the dreary stuff of dayto-day politics" (2012, pp. 5-6). At best, even those who concede that compromise might obtain in practice tend to view it as an unnecessary feature of democratic politics -something which is, at least in theory, avoidable 1 .At worst, practitioners of compromise are often degraded as unprincipled altogether. "A politician", Mencken remarks, must "make so many compromises that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker" (1946, p. 4 ).A 'compromising disposition' 2 , Mencken suggests, is an unacceptable quality: it signals the lack of integrity. This negative view of compromise extends beyond the confines of philosophical analysis (c.f. Gutmann & Thompson, 2012;Benjamin, 1990). Consider the press reaction to the 2010 Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition, where both parties abandoned some of their pre-election pledges to become partners in government. "Clegg", The Guardian reports, "became tarnished by … b...

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Targeted killing: a ‘dirty hands’ analysis

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

The Transformation of Targeted Killing and International Order

The Transformation of Targeted Killing and International Order

The transformation of targeted killing and international order

Political Integrity and Dirty Hands: Compromise and the Ambiguities of Betrayal

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