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In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders talks with Dr Joshua Andresen about drones and aerial strikes, exploring whether they make armed conflict safer for civilians. Some claim that by allowing for the more precise use of force, drone strikes cause less harm to nearby civilian populations. Conversely, some point to the impact that making force more accessible in urban areas actually increases the likelihood that force will be used in and around civilians. Lauren and Joshua also consider whether IHL needs to adapt for the use of these technologies. 

Dr Joshua Andresen is a Reader in National Security and Foreign Relations Law at the University of Surrey who has written extensively on the problems posed by the use of drone strikes in armed conflict and their regulation.  His research focuses on the legal regulation of armed conflict in light of advanced weapons technology and the predominance of non-international armed conflicts. 

He has held positions as a senior policy advisor in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, and has worked at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as Associate Professor of Philosophy at the American University of Beirut. 

Further reading:

• Joshua Andresen ‘Putting Lethal Force on the Table: How Drones Change the Alternative Space of War and Counterterrorism’ (2017) 8(2) Harvard National Security Journal 426-472. 
• Joshua Andresen, ‘Due Process of War in the Age of Drones’,  (2016) 41(1) Yale Journal of International Law 155-188. 
• Joshua Andresen 'The Paradox of Precision and the Weapons Review Regime',  The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence (2020). 
• John E. Jackson (ed) One Nation under Drones: Legality, Morality, and Utility of Unmanned Combat Systems (2018: Naval Institute Press.)
• Jason Lyall, Bombing to Lose? Airpower, Civilian Casualties, and the Dynamics of Violence in Counterinsurgency Wars (2017). 
• Chris Kolenda and Chris Rogers, The Strategic Costs of Civilian Harm: Applying Lessons from Afghanistan to Current and Future Conflicts, (2016: The Open Society Foundation).