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47 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 37 (2015)
Lethal Autonomous Weapons and Jus Ad Bellum Proportionality

handle is hein.journals/cwrint47 and id is 45 raw text is: CASE WESTERN RESERVE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 47 (2015) LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS AND JUS AD BELLUM PROPORTIONALITY Heather M. Roff Much of the debate over the moral permissibility of using autonomous weapons systems (A WS) focuses on issues related to their use during war (jus in bello), and whether those systems can uphold the principles of proportionality and distinction. This essay, however, argues that we ought to consider how a state's portended use of AWS in conflict would affect jus ad bellum principles, particularly the principle of proportionality. The essay argues that even the clearest case of a defensive war against an unjust aggressor would prohibit going to war if the war was waged with A WS. The use of A WS to fight an unjust aggressor would adversely affect the ability for peaceful settlement and negotiations, as well as have negative second-order effects on the international system and third party states. In particular, the use of A WS by one state would likely start and arms race and proliferate weapons throughout the system. CONTENTS 1. IN T R O D U C T IO N ............................................................................... 3 8 II. JUS A D B ELLUM ............................................................................ 40 III. PROPORTIONALITY AND AW S ....................................................... 42 We have to conduct battles without any contact, so that our boys do not die, and for that it is necessary to use war robots. Dimitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia2 1. Heather M. Roff is a Visiting Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She is a research fellow at the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies at the United States Air Force Academy, and has held faculty posts at the University of Waterloo and the United States Air Force Academy. Her research interests pertain to international ethics, security and emerging technologies, particularly lethal autonomous weapons, unmanned systems, and cybersecurity. She is also interested in the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, international humanitarian law, and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. She is author of Global Justice, Kant and the Responsibility to Protect (Routledge, 2013), and over a dozen articles including The Strategic Robot Problem Journal of Military Ethics (2014) and Gendering a Warbot International Feminist Journal of Politics (2015, forthcoming). She is currently writing a monograph on autonomous weapons systems. 2. Combat Robots to Become Russian Army New Recruits, VOICE Russ. (May 30, 2014, 5:28 PM), http://voiceofrussia.com/news/ 2014 05 30/ Combat-robots-to-become-Russian-army-new-recruits- 1788/.

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