Drone Strike–Analyzing the Impacts of Targeted Killing

The intense debate over US targeted drone strikes outside war zones has been limited by the failure to review and assess a considerable body of quantitative research and qualitative material on the impacts of such strikes on terrorist groups and civilians. This book fills an important gap in the literature by conducting a careful and rigorous review of such evidence. It argues that decisions about the use of targeted strikes as a counterterrorism instrument, as well as legal and ethical evaluations of such use, must be informed by our best understanding of the insights that empirical evidence can provide on the effectiveness of strikes and the costs they impose on populations where they occur.

1. Introduction

PART I. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON TARGETED KILLING

2. Measuring Cause and Effect in Targeting Killing

3. Israeli Targeted Strikes

4. Leadership Decapitation Studies

PART II: IMPACTS OF US STRIKES ON TERRORIST GROUPS

5. Overview of US Targeted Strikes

6. Quantitative Research

7. Qualitative Evidence

8. Weighing the Evidence

PART III: IMPACTS OF US STRIKES ON CIVILIANS

9. Civilian Casualties from US Targeted Strikes

10. Civilian Casualties: Beyond the Numbers

11. Effects on Local Populations

12. Conclusion

Mitt Regan is McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence and Co-Director of the Center on National Security at Georgetown Law Center, and Senior Fellow at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the US Naval Academy.