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The ethics of asymmetric war

Ethics of War: Shared Problems in Different Traditions

Abstract

One of the oldest and most enduring images of war is that of the game of chess. Although chess is clearly an abstraction, it powerfully embodies a conception of a particular type of war and moreover, it is a conception that has significant moral content. On the chessboard, two equally configured forces, displaying clear and distinguishable uniforms, do battle on a bounded field and in strict accordance with rules that specify how conflict is to commence, how it is to be conducted, and how it is to be terminated.