1. Limiting Armed Drone Proliferation
- Author:
- Micah Zenko and Sarah Kreps
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The use of unmanned aerial systems—commonly referred to as drones—over the past decade has revolutionized how the United States uses military force. As the technology has evolved from surveillance aircraft to an armed platform, drones have been used for a wide range of military missions: the United States has successfully and legitimately used armed drones to conduct hundreds of counterterrorism operations in battlefield zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. It has also used armed drones in non-battlefield settings, specifically in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines. Collectively, these strikes have eliminated a number of suspected terrorists and militants from Asia to Africa at no cost in terms of U.S. casualties, an advantage of drones over manned platforms that has made them attractive to many other states. However, non-battlefield strikes have drawn criticism, particularly those conducted under the assertion that they are acts of self-defense.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Asia