
The Rise of US Military Legalism
A New Theory of Military Professionalism
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
This book introduces and explains the concept of military legalism, and analyzes its importance for US military decision-making.
The book documents a change over the past 50 years in the way in which US military officers make decisions about using force, which it calls "military legalism". Rather than relying solely on professional military judgment and professional military ethics, officers are increasingly using legal norms and reasoning to justify their choices. This book explores how widespread this practice has become, explains why it has emerged, and examines some of its implications. Using historical cases from World War II through the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, this book traces changes in the way in which civilian policymakers have governed US military decisions about the use of force, and how the military has responded to these changes. While military legalism is normatively neither good nor bad, legalistic reasoning has been used to justify morally deficient policies, and a reliance on legal reasoning may have unanticipated and unexamined effects on the norms of civil-military relations.
This book will be of interest to students of law, military studies, ethics, and International Relations.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Table of Contents
- List of figures
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: what is military legalism?
- 2 How widespread is military legalism?
- 3 What causes military legalism?
- 4 The path to military legalism
- 5 Military legalism in wars big and small
- 6 The implications and future of military legalism
- Appendix: A brief primer on military justice and discipline
- Index