Ethical Dilemmas in the Global Defense Industry

DANIEL SCHOENI has been with the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps since 2004 and is currently assigned to Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He has served as a prosecutor, trial and appellate defense counsel, program counsel, and staff judge advocate. He recently completed a Ph.D. in public procurement law at the University of Nottingham, has lectured at King's College London since 2017, and is a professorial lecturer in law at George Washington University.TOBIAS VESTNER is Head of the Research and Policy Advice Department and Head of the Security and Law Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He has co-authored International Law and Policy on the Protection of Civilians (2022) and A Guide to International Disarmament Law (2019). He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, a Fellow at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. Previously, he was Research Affiliate and Global Futures Fellow at Georgetown University and Policy Advisor at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

This important volume asks deep moral questions about the defense industry. It confronts the difficult issues facing firms whose international business supports massive investments in national militaries. It urges them to look beyond profit maximization as the only legitimate corporate goal.

• AcknowledgementsForeword, Leo Mackay Introduction, Daniel E. Schoeni and Tobias Vestner PART I: ASSESSING ETHICAL NORMS IN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY Chapter 1. Tobias Vestner, The Defense Industry's Contribution to National SecurityChapter 2. Duncan MacIntosh, The Sniper and the Psychopath: A Parable in Defense of the Weapons IndustryChapter 3. Richard W. Painter, Fiduciary Duties of Officers and Directors of Military Contractors: Shareholder Primacy or Loyalty to the United States?Chapter 4. C. Edward Peartree, What Ethical Dilemmas? The U.S. Defense Industry and Foreign Arms Sales PART II: ETHICAL DILEMMAS RELATING TO NEW MILITARY TECHNOLOGIES Chapter 5. Thomas E. Ayres, Kevin Govern, and Michael W. Meier, The Ethics of Better Weapons: A Soldier Lawyer's ViewChapter 6. Brian Green, Space Ethics for the Modern WarriorChapter 7. Jeffrey Biller and Timothy Goins, Protecting Civilian Data in Armed Conflicts: The Need for an Ethical FoundationChapter 8. Blake Hereth and Nicholas G. Evans, Artificial Intelligence and the Cost-Sharing Dilemma PART III: ADDRESSING CORRUPTION IN GLOBAL MARKETS Chapter 9. Philip M. Nichols, Defense Firms' Duties to Society When Presented with an Opportunity to Pay a BribeChapter 10. Mark Pyman, Tackling Defense Corruption: A <"Whole Sector> " ApproachChapter 11. Nancy Hite-Rubin, The Nexus of Arms Embargoes, Corruption, and Foreign InvestmentChapter 12. Daniel E. Schoeni, Some Ethical Dimensions of Defense Offsets PART IV: INNOVATIONS FOR IMPROVING ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE IN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY Chapter 13. Michael Davis, Ethical Issues in the Global Arms Industry: A Role for EngineersChapter 14. Christopher R. Yukins, Mandatory Disclosure: How Anti-Corruption Measures Can Affect Competition in Defense MarketsChapter 15. Jessica Tillipman and Vijaya Surampudi, The Compliance Mentor-Protege Program: Improving Compliance in Small to Mid-Sized ContractorsChapter 16. Patricia H. Werhane, Silo Mentalities, Dominant Logics, and Their Ethical Challenges in the Defense Industry PART V: CONCLUSION Chapter 17. Steven L. Schooner and Evan Matsuda, Strange Bedfellows: Representative Democracy and Academic Engagement with the Defense Industry