Environmental Ethics in the Military

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Marina Malamud

Environmental security can be framed in environmental risks towards security, such as extreme climatic events that incite new conflicts in local populations, and the security impact on the environment as a result of human-induced damage to the ecosystem. As a result, the fact that climatic-related events can pose a threat to security and the environmental footprint can undermine peace has thus raised a concern in many militaries of democratic nations. This research article introduces the mainstream environmental security literature through the geopolitical, human security and biocentric perspectives and main social trends to analyze ethical issues in the relationship between ecology and the armed forces. It is argued that there are two major ethical challenges for the military: the securitization of the development agenda that can lead to a militarized conservation in conflict areas; and the search for a corporate sense of responsibility in terms of efficient and still ecologically sustainable operational systems that comply with international environmental agreements.

Author(s):  
Marina Malamud

Environmental security can be framed in environmental risks towards security, such as extreme climatic events that incite new conflicts in local populations, and the security impact on the environment as a result of human-induced damage to the ecosystem. As a result, the fact that climatic-related events can pose a threat to security and the environmental footprint can undermine peace has thus raised a concern in many militaries of democratic nations. This research article introduces the mainstream environmental security literature through the geopolitical, human security and biocentric perspectives and main social trends to analyze ethical issues in the relationship between ecology and the armed forces. It is argued that there are two major ethical challenges for the military: the securitization of the development agenda that can lead to a militarized conservation in conflict areas; and the search for a corporate sense of responsibility in terms of efficient and still ecologically sustainable operational systems that comply with international environmental agreements.


AI Magazine ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Wasilow ◽  
Joelle B. Thorpe

Defense and security organizations depend upon science and technology to meet operational needs, predict and counter threats, and meet increasingly complex demands of modern warfare. Artificial intelligence and robotics could provide solutions to a wide range of military gaps and deficiencies. At the same time, the unique and rapidly evolving nature of AI and robotics challenges existing polices, regulations, and values, and introduces complex ethical issues that might impede their development, evaluation, and use by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Early consideration of potential ethical issues raised by military use of emerging AI and robotics technologies in development is critical to their effective implementation. This article presents an ethics assessment framework for emerging AI and robotics technologies. It is designed to help technology developers, policymakers, decision makers, and other stakeholders identify and broadly consider potential ethical issues that might arise with the military use and integration of emerging AI and robotics technologies of interest. We also provide a contextual environment for our framework, as well as an example of how our framework can be applied to a specific technology. Finally, we briefly identify and address several pervasive issues that arose during our research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
ALEXEY ROMAKHIN ◽  

This article reveals the problem of the role of the religious factor in the formation of the value orientations of the military personnel of the Russian army from its inception to the present state. In the article, the author reveals the significance of the Church in the formation of the value orientations of military personnel. The problem of religious situation in foreign armies is considered. The article presents data from sociological studies confirming the increase in the number of religious servicemen in the modern Armed Forces. The concept of “religious factor” is revealed. The author suggests considering the influence of the religious factor on the formation of value orientations through the functions of religion. The article provides examples of the influence of religion on the formation of value orientations of military personnel from the time of the Baptism of Russia to the present. Examples of writers of Russian classical literature about the influence of religion on the morale of troops are given. Examples of religious participation in major battles and wars of the past years are shown. The significance of the religious factor in uniting the people and the army is shown. The work of officials of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation in strengthening values among military personnel in modern conditions is demonstrated. The role of the Minister of defense of the Russian Federation, General of the army S.K. Shoigu in strengthening the faith of the Russian army is outlined. Issues related to the construction of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces and its impact on the public masses were discussed. In this study, the author aims to show the significant role of religion in the formation of value orientations in Russian military personnel. The analysis shows an increasing role of religion in the minds of military personnel in modern conditions.


Author(s):  
V. Nazarkin ◽  
O. Semenenko ◽  
A. Efimenko ◽  
V. Ivanov

The task of choosing the rational number of power structures is always one of the main priorities of any political leadership of the state. An insufficient number of armed forces is a threat to the national security of the state; an excess number creates pressures on the development of the country's national economy. Today, when the development programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being formed in the context of the practical application of their units and subunits to carry out combat missions, questions of choosing a priority approach to the formation (justification) of the rational size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is an urgent issue. The article proposes a structure for conducting research on the development and implementation of the methodology of military-economic substantiation of the rational strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the system of defense planning of Ukraine in the formation of programs for their development for the medium and long term. The main objectives of this methodology are: scientific substantiation of the range of the necessary strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the period of the program of their development; the choice of the indicator of the rational size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine according to the years of the program from a certain range of its changes; military-economic substantiation of this number under the influence of various limiting factors. The development and implementation of such a methodology will increase the efficiency of the formation and implementation of development programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the efficiency of using public funds for the development of power structures.


Author(s):  
V. Makhankov ◽  
A. Maltsev ◽  
A. Kupriniuk ◽  
V. Obertas

The current stage of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AF) confirms that the crisis in the country's economy has significantly affected the system of logistics of troops, which ensures its main task – to maintain the combat readiness of military units and ensure their livelihood in peacetime. The war in the east of the country and the existing state of providing troops showed the need to improve the organization and management of the process of logistical (technical, rear and medical) provision of training and combat use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is currently in the phase of perspective changes and necessitates the development of a new concept of military information management and logistical flows, which will be implemented by a new, more efficient structure, called the "military logistics system". The purpose of the article is to determine the directions for the creation and accumulation of an optimal nomenclature of stocks of material resources in peacetime and their rational separation at the tactical, operational and strategic levels of management. The article describes the contents of the concepts of "logistics", "echelon", "stocking", "operational accounting". Important tasks of modern conditions of process of creation and management of stocks in the course of reforming of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are systematized; variants of the offered models of inventory management are outlined. The goal is achieved through theoretical and experimental research on volume optimization and material separation at all levels of management, which is one of the key problems of military logistics.


Author(s):  
James M. DuBois ◽  
Beth Prusaczyk

This chapter focuses primarily on the protection of human participants in D&I studies. It begins by reviewing the Belmont principles that undergird US research regulations and considering the ethical case for D&I research. It then proceeds to examine some ethical issues that might arise during the course of a public health, D&I research agenda in middle schools. It covers the ethical case for D&I research and common ethical challenges. The chapter also discusses strategies for ethical decision-making. While these strategies may be beneficial to all researchers, the authors believe they are of particular value to dissemination and implementation researchers because the nature of their work—context specific, complex, and unfamiliar to many peers, collaborators, and reviewers—means they will deal with uncertainty and conflict on a regular basis, and solutions to the problems they face will rarely be found through simple reference principles, rules, or regulations.


Author(s):  
Karola V. Kreitmair ◽  
Mildred K. Cho

Wearable and mobile health technology is becoming increasingly pervasive, both in professional healthcare settings and with individual consumers. This chapter delineates the various functionalities of this technology and identifies its different purposes. It then addresses the ethical challenges that this pervasiveness poses in the areas of accuracy and reliability of the technology, privacy and confidentiality of data, consent, and the democratization of healthcare. It also looks at mobile mental health apps as a case study to elucidate the discussion of ethical issues. Finally, the chapter turns to the question of how this technology and the associated “quantification of the self” affect traditional modes of epistemic access to and phenomenological conceptions of the self.


Author(s):  
Maxwell Smith ◽  
Ross Upshur

Infectious disease pandemics raise significant and novel ethical challenges to the organization and practice of public health. This chapter provides an overview of the salient ethical issues involved in preparing for and responding to pandemic disease, including those arising from deploying restrictive public health measures to contain and curb the spread of disease (e.g., isolation and quarantine), setting priorities for the allocation of scarce resources, health care workers’ duty to care in the face of heightened risk of infection, conducting research during pandemics, and the global governance of preventing and responding to pandemic disease. It also outlines ethical guidance from prominent ethical frameworks that have been developed to address these ethical issues and concludes by discussing some pressing challenges that must be addressed if ethical reflection is to make a meaningful difference in pandemic preparedness and response.


Author(s):  
David B. Resnik

This chapter provides an overview of the ethics of environmental health, and it introduces five chapters in the related section of The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics. A wide range of ethical issues arises in managing the relationship between human health and the environment, including regulation of toxic substances, air and water pollution, waste management, agriculture, the built environment, occupational health, energy production and use, environmental justice, population control, and climate change. The values at stake in environmental health ethics include those usually mentioned in ethical debates in biomedicine and public health, such as autonomy, social utility, and justice, as well as values that address environmental concerns, such as animal welfare, stewardship of biological resources, and sustainability. Environmental health ethics, therefore, stands at the crossroads of several disciplines, including public health ethics, environmental ethics, biomedical ethics, and business ethics.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Blasimme ◽  
Effy Vayena

This chapter explores ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the domain of biomedical research, healthcare provision, and public health. The litany of ethical challenges that AI in medicine raises cannot be addressed sufficiently by current regulatory and ethical frameworks. The chapter then advances the systemic oversight approach as a governance blueprint, which is based on six principles offering guidance as to the desirable features of oversight structures and processes in the domain of data-intense biomedicine: adaptivity, flexibility, inclusiveness, reflexivity, responsiveness, and monitoring (AFIRRM). In the research domain, ethical review committees will have to incorporate reflexive assessment of the scientific and social merits of AI-driven research and, as a consequence, will have to open their ranks to new professional figures such as social scientists. In the domain of patient care, clinical validation is a crucial issue. Hospitals could equip themselves with “clinical AI oversight bodies” charged with the task of advising clinical administrators. Meanwhile, in the public health sphere, the new level of granularity enabled by AI in disease surveillance or health promotion will have to be negotiated at the level of targeted communities.


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