Protecting Civilians During Violent Conflict

David Lovell is Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy , Australia and Igor Primoratz is Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Canberra, and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem

• Contents: Protecting civilians during violent conflict: an issue in context, David W. Lovell; Are attacks on civilians always wrong?, Stephen Nathanson; Civilian immunity as an almost absolute moral rule, Igor Primoratz; Collateral damage: intending evil and doing evil, Dean Cocking; The protection of civilians from violence and the effects of attacks in international humanitarian law, Hitoshi Nasu; Discriminate warfare: the military necessity-humanity dialectic of international humanitarian law, Michael N. Schmitt; Who is protected under international humanitarian law? Finding a definition of 'direct participation in hostilities', Helen Durham and Eve Massingham; Protecting civilians in armed conflict through rules of engagement, Rob McLaughlin; Educating for ethical behaviour? Preparing military leaders for ethical challenges, David W. Lovell; First do no harm: refugee law as a response to armed conflict, Penelope Mathew; Private military and security companies and the 'civilianization' of war, Andrew Alexandra; Remote killing and drive-by wars, David Whetham; Discrimination and non-lethal weapons: issues for the future military, Stephen Coleman; Surviving in a war zone: the problem of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, William Maley; The protection of civilians during Israeli-Hamas conflict: the Goldstone Report, Richard D. Rosen; An assessment of the Gaza Report's contribution to the development of international humanitarian law, Susan Breau; References; Index.

'As unconventional and intra-state conflict situations abound, this timely volume addresses the burgeoning and complex ethical problems posed by the risk of civilian casualties. If the moral claims of non-combatants are not absolute, how strong are they? Readers of this volume will gain a clear picture of the values at stake and the special difficulties of implementing them in the twenty-first century.' John Kleinig, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA