“Conventional” military operations, in which the uniformed military forces of one state engage with an equivalent force of another state, have become the exception rather than the norm in contemporary warfare. Military forces now more often find themselves pitted against non-state (or hybrid) opponents who avoid symmetric military engagements, preferring to seek shelter among civilian populations while employing a range of asymmetric guerrilla and terrorist tactics in operations located in the 'grey zone' between war and peace. States are making increasing use of special operations forces and other unconventional capabilities (such as cyber/information warfare operations) to carry out 'grey zone' missions, and those same special operations forces find themselves fighting alongside and enabling irregular and non-state forces which employ a mode of warfare that is distinctly unconventional. These realities considerably complicate the existing challenges of conducting operations in a manner consistent with the ethical norms for the use of military force. This course students will give the student detailed knowledge of concepts at the heart of the ethics of war and an understanding of how to apply ethical frameworks in analysing the challenges that arise from military actions in the operational environment of special, complex, and irregular operations.
