Introduction
Ever since the first days of the global “War on Terror” (2001), armed drones have been used to track, hunt, and kill suspected terrorists/insurgents around the world. The unique ability to loiter, to strike deep into distant and unwelcoming places, and ultimately to kill by “remote control” – without directly risking the lives of American military personnel – has proven to be impossible to resist. Between 2001 and 2009, the United States embraced “killer drones,” for surveillance and strike missions. The peak period of American drone warfare (to date) occurred under the leadership of President Barack Obama (2009–2017). Now known to some as “the drone president,” President Obama’s administation ordered hundreds of strikes outside of areas of active declared conflict (Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia). The president approved considerably more strikes in regions declared as active battlefields, such as Afghanistan. Indeed, under President Obama, armed drones were used to strike...
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Further Reading
Benjamin, M. (2013). Drone warfare: Killing by remote control. London/New York: Verso.
Boyle, M. (Ed.). (2017). Legal and ethical implications of drone warfare. London: Routledge.
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Woods, C. (2015). Sudden justice: America’s secret drone warfare. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Rogers, J., Michel, A.H. (2020). Drone Warfare: Distant Targets and Remote Killings. In: Romaniuk, S., Thapa, M., Marton, P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_33-1
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