Cyberpower and the Inadequacy of the "Warfighting" Distinction

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the moral purpose/s of the military, and the role of ‘warfighter,’ in the light of emerging forms of conflict. First of all, I describe the conventional view for the moral purpose of the military as an institution whose sole purpose is to fight wars. I demonstrate the way in which conventional thinking about military ethics presupposes that it is merely a ‘blunt instrument’ of the state whose moral purpose is to engage in hostile force against belligerents during war. Then I argue that this conventional ‘warfighting’ approach to describing the moral purpose of the military is too narrow because it fails to acknowledge the necessary role played by military capabilities in non-war contexts. Using examples from cybersecurity and counter-terrorism, I demonstrate my point that the conventional warfighting view gives insufficient ethical guidance for the use of military capabilities in non-war contexts. Finally, I argue that the purpose of the military should be conceived more broadly than as mere warfighters. I suggest that the moral purpose of the military is to protect and preserve the “life” of the political community it serves. And I argue that our thinking about military ethics should be revised toward that end in order to best restrain uses of military force.