DIIS seminar: Accountability for Killing: Moral Responsibility for Collateral Damage in America’s Post-9/11 Wars

TID: Onsdag den 26. februar kl. 10-12

STED: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Gammel Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A, Reception, 2100 København Ø.

TID: Onsdag den 26. februar kl. 10-12

STED: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Gammel Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A, Reception, 2100 København Ø.

The unintended deaths of civilians in war are too often dismissed as unavoidable, inevitable, and accidental. And despite the best efforts of the U.S. to avoid them, civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan have been a regular feature of the United States’ wars after 9/11.

In her talk, Neta C. Crawford will focus on the causes of these many episodes of foreseeable collateral damage and the moral responsibility for them.

The dominant paradigm of legal and moral responsibility in war today stresses both intention and individual accountability. Deliberate killing of civilians is outlawed and international law blames individual soldiers and commanders for such killing.

Given the nature of contemporary war, however, Crawford contends that placing moral responsibility for systemic collateral damage on individuals is misplaced.

She develops a new theory of organizational moral agency and responsibility, and shows how the U.S. military exercised moral agency and moral responsibility to reduce the incidence of collateral damage in America’s most recent wars.

The seminar is based on Crawford’s new book, Accountability for Killing (Oxford, 2013). Trenchant, original, and ranging across security studies, international law, ethics, and international relations, Accountability for Killing promises to reshape our understanding of the ethics of contemporary war.

Speakers:
* Neta C. Crawford, Professor, Boston University
* Johannes Lang, Postdoctoral Fellow, DIIS
* Frederik Rosén, Senior Researcher, DIIS

The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use the online registration form no later than Tuesday, 25 February 2014 at 12.00 noon.

Read more and register at: http://en.diis.dk/home/seminars/2014/accountability+for+killing

Please await confirmation by e-mail from DIIS for participation.