Humane Warfare (Paperback, New)

In its attempt to humanise modernity, the West is also trying to humanise war. It is trying to purge it of those features such as waste and cruelty which writers such as Clausewitz believed to be intrinsic to its true nature. The decision, as in Kosovo, to fight 'humanitarian wars' is one illustration of this trend but so too is our wish to use technology to make it more humane, and the extent to which humanism has displaced metaphysics in defining the ethical relationship between war and the warrior. This book asks whether the attempt can succeed or whether the West is deluding itself (not its enemies) in thinking that war can ever be made humane. Christopher Coker's radical conclusion is that Western humanitarian warfare is in fact an endgame, as other non-Western societies will make sure it does not succeed. Eminently readable, this book combines theory with accounts by politicians and serving military personnel.