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  • © 2019

Disobedience in the Military

Legal and Ethical Implications

  • Discusses contemporary questions about the nature of military’s obedience

  • Emphasizes the importance of ethical disobedience as a tool to humanize human conflicts

  • Valuable for undergraduates, graduate students, members of the armed forces in military academies and scholars studying the Just War Theory

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
  2. Introduction

    • Jean-François Caron
    Pages 1-7
  3. When Morality Clashes with Lawfulness

    • Jean-François Caron
    Pages 75-91
  4. Disobeying Suicidal Orders

    • Jean-François Caron
    Pages 93-106
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 125-127

About this book

We often think of the army as an institution whose members are required to blindly obey all orders they receive. However, this perception is inaccurate. Disobedience is a fundamental professional obligation of members of the military and overrides the obligation to follow commands. But what is the extent of this obligation? Are soldiers obligated to participate in what they consider to be an illegal war, or should they be allowed to enjoy a right to selective conscientious objection? Should soldiers obey a legal order that, if followed, would facilitate the perpetration of war crimes by a third party? How should soldiers act if they are ordered to follow a lawful order that could result in immoral consequences? Should soldiers be allowed to refuse to obey what can be labeled as suicidal orders? Based upon the nature of soldiers’ professional obligations, this book tries to offer answers to these important questions. The author turns to a number of different case-studies, including conscientious objections, duty to protect in genocidal situations such as Rwanda and Srebrenica, suicidal orders in wars, as well as retribution and leniency towards war criminals, as a way of assessing the different legal and ethical implications of disobedience in the military.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Jean-François Caron

About the author

Jean-François Caron is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, where he teaches Political Theory.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access