52. Dr David Whetham - On the Ethics of War, War Crimes and Ethical Decision Making

My guest today is Dr David Whetham who is a Professor of Ethics and the Military Profession in the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London. He is the Director of the King’s Centre for Military Ethics and delivers or coordinates the military ethics component of courses for around two thousand British and international officers a year at the UK’s Joint Services Command and Staff College.

In 2020 David was appointed as an Assistant Inspector-General to the Australian Defence Force to assist in the final stages of the Afghanistan Inquiry and is the author of the report’s final Annex. He joined me to discuss issues of military ethics. Some of the topics we covered include:

• David’s journey into military ethics
• Defining military ethics
• Jus ad bellum vs Jus in bello
• Government and military tension when jus ad bellum is not met
• Political leaders’ impunity when sending troops to war
• Interests vs values debate
• Impact of broken justifications for war
• Afghanistan and impact of poor mission definition
• Narrative vs reality and resulting disillusionment
• Impact of the environment and whether atrocities in war are inevitable
• Preparing our troops for moral dilemmas
• Environmental elements that contribute to ethical demise
• Special Forces, but not special
• Mitigating circumstances to atrocities
• Ethical drift and institutional responsibility
• Realistic training for ethical dilemmas
• Training to make the right decision, quicker

David mentioned the recent launch of a free app to help military service members make more informed decisions. You can find the app for both Apple and Android by searching for Military Ethics: Cards for Humanity.