The potential and practical problems of state-counter terrorism and guerrilla groups as a phenomenon, its moral consequences have been discussed a lot in the works of Jean-François Caron’s book titled Moral Dilemmas of Fighting Terrorism and Guerrilla Groups. The book is rather critical of distinguishing between the two kinds of violence and specifically focuses on the ethical problems of the West, in particular after September 11, 2001.
Caron starts by describing the growing western knowledge of terrorism after monumental attacks including the 9/11 attacks, the 2004 Madrid Train bombings, 2005 London bombings and the more recent Paris’ attacks in 2015. These events are good examples of terrorism’s lethal endangering of innocent lives and its continued menace. But as Caron has noted it terrorism is not a youthful creation but a way of ancient political violence as recognized by Walter Liqueur. This is a long standing method that has been employed from the dawn of time by small factions against state officials or non-combatants.
Caron’s main objectives therefore include a proper explanation of terrorism and the difference between this and guerrilla activity. He therefore dispels the binary thinking of how terrorism is portrayed as barbaric and irrational mainly fueled by divinity while guerrilla warfare is portrayed as noble and rational with the underlying objective of attaining national liberation. Caron’s argument is based on history facts and it tries to provide arguments that terrorist action as some operational modus can be a reasonable strategy for groups which fights for providing national liberation and religious motivations can sometime lead to avoidance of violent actions.
These violent images differ significantly from the irrational/ rational and the barbarian/ civilized distinctions often employed to compare these two types of violence.
State and Non-State Actors
Caron deals with an assumption that terrorism is something that can be practiced only by non-state actors. He points to the fact that while some states said to be the sole legitimate users of force condemn non-state actors as regards force and immoral. He tackles etymologies of the word terrorism which originated from ‘terrorism’ in French, noting the usage of terror by states in
revolution France. Caron also supports its arguments by historical examples such as the Britain during the WWII, which used terrorism in the form equal to that used by current non-state actors, thus disproving the idea that terrorism is solely performed by the organizations that are not states.
Ethical Dilemmas in Counterterrorism
The book explores the ethical dilemmas in the fight against terrorism, identifying three primary challenges: Safeguard citizens’ lives compared to inflicting collateral damage / unnecessary loss of lives to foreigners. Knowing the whereabouts and plans of a terrorist group through torturing the captured terrorists versus paying respect to their non-combatant positions. Between ending conflict and deliberately attacking civilians to get to the result of no conflict. Therefore, the author raises two primary issues in the performance of moral complexity regarding actions of the states, and inevitable violations of the moral standards irrespective of the decisions made.
Caron also explores the ethnocentricity or the guerrilla warfare moral claim that guerrilla warfare’s actions have to be questioned.
Philosophical and Ethical Analysis
Author employs different ethical theories in dissecting the state’s responses to terrorism and guerrilla warfare. He expresses his dissatisfaction with two broad categories of ethical theories; the utilitarian and the deontological theories. Caron highlighted how both visions lack the sufficient tools to solve the ethical issue of asymmetric warfare. The measure of philosophical scrutiny therefore reveals the ethical dilemmas that pervade counterterrorism and challenges reader’s perception so as to grasp the multi-layered ethical domain, which states engage in during such fights.
Legal Considerations
Caron focuses in his work on ethics and international law and the relations between the laws of war and human rights. He talks about matters of legal concern explaining that legal systems are dinosaurian in terms of adaptability to occasions of terrorism and guerrilla exploitation, that show lack of legal opportunity and moral chance. Furthermore, even though Caron’s book provides extensive ethical and philosophical consideration, it offers comparatively limited epistemic direction on counterterrorism planning and approach. The book successfully defines ethical issues arising from state actions while presenting less information on how they can be resolved practically. Some practitioners may also consider this deficit as a weakness because the guidelines provided themselves as well as the recommendations are not strictly instructive for the practitioner in applying to policy and strategy.
It is worth mentioning that Moral Dilemmas of Fighting Terrorism and Guerrilla Groups constitutes a valuable addition to the existing body of knowledge in the phenomenon of political violence. Caron’s attention to ethics in the broadest sense, cross disciplinary framework and philosophically sophisticated argument make this book an indispensable guide to experiencing
moral hard cases posed by states’ counter-terrorism and counter-guerrilla warfare. Due to the involvement of abstract ideas and extensive use of terminology, the book effectively trying to enhance attentiveness to the ethical issues in counterterrorism, inviting to consider global challenges more critically.
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The Author is an MS Research Fellow in International Relations with experience in global politics, women’s empowerment, and technology’s impact on human security. she is an enthusiastic and passionate researcher. can be reached at nailaahmed1992@gmail.com