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Rebecca L Hall, Ethical Dilemmas in The Global Defense Industry: Ethics, National Security, and the Rule of Law Daniel Schoeni and Tobias Vestner (eds), Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Volume 30, Issue 1, Spring 2025, Pages 166–173, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcsl/kraf005
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This volume, edited by Daniel Schoeni and Tobias Vestner, is a collection of 16 chapters, tied together by a foreword, introduction, and reflective conclusion. It calls upon the expertise of over 20 contributors, who come from the military, academic, policy, and industry space, in a broad and meticulous discussion of the ‘ongoing [ethical] challenges’1 in the global defence industry. Whilst there have been vast improvements in the regulation of the industry, which the book highlights from the outset,2 there is also a necessary acknowledgement that the dilemmas are ever multiplying with every new weapon technology and—as exemplified by recent world events—with every new conflict. Since the book’s publication in March 2023, the events of 7 October 2023 and the ensuing conflict in Gaza and its expansion across the Middle East have renewed questions over the processes and ethics involved in foreign arms sales and the role of governments and individual arms manufacturers in alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Such questions have culminated, in some circumstances, in protests outside the factories of prominent arms developers such as BAE Systems Plc and Lockheed Martin in the UK.3 This volume, split into four parts, aims ‘to reflect on and lay the foundation for further work in this field’4 by using the expertise of its many contributors and their varied discussions. Together, they provide a bird’s eye view of the overall debate regarding the ethical dilemmas in the defence industry, as well as proposing ways to improve ethical standards and compliance.
