With US forces having left Afghanistan, and the Biden administration now relying on ‘over the horizon’ capabilities to continue to fight terrorism in the Middle East, this panel discussion explores moral and strategic debates surrounding the use of limited force that has become emblematic of all major US-led wars in the 21st century – from the so-called ‘humanitarian intervention’ in Kosovo to the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya.

In his new book, Just and Unjust Uses of Limited Force (OUP 2021), Daniel Brunstetter (Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine) argues that limited force is different from war: different in scope, strategic purpose, and ethical permissions and restraints. Through an exploration of contemporary examples, he offers a normative account of force-short-of-war, covering deliberation about whether to use limited force (jus ad vim), restraints that govern its use (jus in vi), and the after-use context (jus post vim).

The panel will be chaired by Brianna Rosen (Senior Fellow at Just Security and a DPhil candidate at the Blavatnik School of Government) with discussants Neil Renic (Senior Researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg) and Christian Nikolaus Braun (Radboud Excellence Initiative Fellow at Radboud University’s Research Centre for State and Law).

Please note: This event takes place online via Zoom.