ABSTRACT
The subject of ethics, much like that of culture, holds a somewhat awkward position in the world of strategy. Since humans are moral beings, ethics must have an influence on strategy. And yet, since the latter is a rational activity, the seemingly emotional and subjective world of ethics may be regarded as an unwelcome interloper in the process of strategy. Or as Bernard Brodie notes: ‘[T]he strategic writer . . . will normally regard moral considerations as tiresome impediments to the flow of one’s thoughts.’1 As noted in the Introduction to this book, strategy is a complex, uncertain and competitive activity. Ethical concerns merely seem to further complicate the job of the strategist. However, ethics is not something the modern strategist can ignore. Ethics has become an increasingly important issue as war has come under ever more complex legal and moral scrutiny. The laws of war, which are based on longstanding ethical traditions, have developed substantially since the second half of the nineteenth century. Taken together, ethics and law are central components of what Michael Walzer calls the ‘war convention’.2
