2016/09/01 by David P. Fidler
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies #European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies #War, Ethics, and Justification
paper · doi:10.1162/daed_a_00410
openalex publication_date 2016/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
The emergence of cyber means and methods of war, force, and coercion raises ethical questions under just war theory different from those historically generated by the development of ever more destructive instruments of war. Whether in armed conflict or contexts not considered war, cyber technologies create political and ethical incentives for their use. However, this attractiveness poses potential risks and dangers that, at present, are largely speculative but invite more ethical deliberation. Unfortunately, the convergence of political and ethical incentives on cyber in a context of increasing geopolitical competition and conflict make the prospects for ethical consensus on just and unjust cyber coercion, force, and war unlikely.