The Ethics of Insurgency
A Critical Guide to Just Guerrilla Warfare

The Ethics of Insurgency explains how guerrillas who pursue national self-determination may justly utilize many unlawful practices of war.

Michael L. Gross (Author)

9781107684645, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 January 2015

337 pages, 2 maps 6 tables
22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.45 kg

'Michael L. Gross asks in this stimulating book how a relatively small fighting force, struggling toward the goal of political self-determination, might wage war ethically against a stronger, oppressive state. … a provocative text that is well worth reading and marks a serious contribution to discussions about contemporary warfare, especially insurgencies. I recommend it for scholars craving clear and insightful analysis of the highly complex questions raised by contemporary warfare, and for use with graduate students.' Anna Floerke Scheid, Studies in Christian Ethics

As insurgencies rage, a burning question remains: how should insurgents fight technologically superior state armies? Commentators rarely ask this question because the catchphrase 'we fight by the rules, but they don't' is nearly axiomatic. But truly, are all forms of guerrilla warfare equally reprehensible? Can we think cogently about just guerrilla warfare? May guerrilla tactics such as laying improvised explosive devices (IEDs), assassinating informers, using human shields, seizing prisoners of war, conducting cyber strikes against civilians, manipulating the media, looting resources, or using nonviolence to provoke violence prove acceptable under the changing norms of contemporary warfare? The short answer is 'yes', but modern guerrilla warfare requires a great deal of qualification, explanation, and argumentation before it joins the repertoire of acceptable military behavior. Not all insurgents fight justly, but guerrilla tactics and strategies are also not always the heinous practices that state powers often portray them to be.

1. Just guerrilla warfare: concepts and cases
Part I. The Right to Fight: 2. The right to fight: just cause and legitimate authority
3. The right to fight: who fights and how
Part II. Hard War: 4. Large-scale conventional guerrilla warfare: IEDs and ballistic missiles
5. Small-scale conventional guerrilla warfare: targeted killing and taking prisoners
6. What's wrong with human shields?
Part III. Soft War: 7. Terrorism and cyber terrorism
8. Economic warfare and the economy of war
9. Public diplomacy, propaganda and media warfare
10. Civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance
Part IV. Concluding Remarks: 11. Just war and liberal guerrilla theorizing.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP]