Legal, Ethical and Moral Perspectives on Advanced Technology and Weapon System Use in Current and Future Conflicts

Major powers, states and non-state actors are competing at the forefront of weapon technology development to acquire, maintain or overcome, asymmetric military advantage. Such competition occurs at the level of inter-state rivalry and in domestic insurgencies of different types, involving jihadist, revolutionary, separatist, and anti-colonial groups. New and emerging weapon technologies continue to expand military capabilities for both states and non-state actors. Their development and use in innovative and unconventional combinations also introduces new Legal, Ethical and Moral (LEM) dimensions. These include, for example, decisions to conform to, ignore or reject international legal norms. In addition, the ethical frameworks within which states and non-state groups operate are rooted in competing political contexts and clashing ideological assumptions.