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Janina Dill discusses military use of drones - BBC Newshour

Janina Dill, Associate Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy; Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College; and Research Fellow of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) shared her expertise with the BBC on the ethics and consequences of the use of drones by the military.


The British Army is training ethicists to teach soldiers about the morality of killing with drones. Chaplains have been sent on Postgraduate Philosophy courses so that they can guide officers on ethical issues arising from deployments a long way away from the battlefield.

Prof Dill explains that drone operators, removed from the physical dangers of war, experience its effects with a heightened awareness which may contribute to a higher incidence of post-traumatic stress disorders.

Furthermore, soldiers’ physical safety, and the subsequent reduction of military casualties, may also increase the likelihood of war.

You can listen to the BBC iPlayer Radio program, from 48:38.