When Soldiers Say No

Andrea Ellner is in the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London, UK, Paul Robinson is a professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, Canada and David Whetham is Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies at King’s College London, based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at the UK Defence Academy.

’The issue of selective conscientious objection is where the rubber really hits the road for recent debates about the moral status of soldiers. The real achievement of this fine volume is to connect the theoretical debate with the concrete policy challenges faced by military and government - and to substantially advance both. Essential reading for anyone working on the ethics of war.’ David Rodin, University of Oxford, UK ’We expect members of the military to accept civilian authority and not determine foreign policy. But what if a nation commits its troops to an unjust war? Are they then morally obligated to refuse to fight? This is a question with potentially devastating real-world consequences that should concern every citizen. Whetham, Robinson, and Ellner have produced a brilliant, provocative volume that examines the issue of selective conscientious objection from many perspectives and across several cultures to provide a balanced array of arguments from which readers can derive their own conclusions.’ Shannon E. French, Case Western Reserve University, USA When Soldiers Say No brings together arguments for and against selective conscientious objection, as well as case studies examining how different countries deal with those who claim the status of selective conscientious objectors. This collection adds considerably to the literature by bringing together a range of perspectives on the merits of selective conscientious objection, as well as consideration of its application (or lack thereof) in a number of states ... The book will obviously be of great appeal to anyone with an interest in selective conscientious objection in the military, but is also, more broadly, likely to be of interest to those engaged in military ethics, defence studies, international relations, international law, human rights, and moral philosophy. LSE Review of Books 'When Soldiers Say No is a highly-recommended and well-researched piece of multidisciplinary literature provi

• Foreword, Jeff McMahan; ‘Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come’, Andrea Ellner, Paul Robinson, David Whetham; Part I Arguments For and Against Accepting Selective Conscientious Objection; Chapter 1 The Duty of Diligence: Knowledge, Responsibility, and Selective Conscientious Objection, Brian Imiola; Chapter 2 There is No Real Moral Obligation to Obey Orders: Escaping from ‘Low Cost Deontology’, Emmanuel R. Goffi; Chapter 3 Selective Conscientious Objection: A Violation of the Social Contract, Melissa Bergeron; Chapter 4 Who Guards the Guards? The Importance of Civilian Control of the Military, David Fisher; Chapter 5 An Empirical Defense of Combatant Moral Equality, Michael Skerker; Chapter 6 Selective Conscientious Objection and the Just Society, Dan Zupan; Part II Case Studies in Selective Conscientious Objection; Chapter 7 Selective Conscientious Objection in Australia, Stephen Coleman, Nikki Coleman, Richard Adams; Chapter 8 Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Britain, Stephen Deakin; Chapter 9 Selective Conscientious Objection: Philosophical and Conceptual Doubts in Light of Israeli Case Law, Yossi Nehushtan; Chapter 10 Claims for Refugee Protection in Canada by Selective Objectors: An Evolving Jurisprudence, Yves Le Bouthillier; Chapter 11 Conscience in Lieu of Obedience: Cases of Selective Conscientious Objection in the German Bundeswehr, Jürgen Rose; Part III Conclusions; Chapter 12 Selective Conscientious Objection: Some Guidelines for Implementation, J. Carl Ficarrotta; Chapter 13 War Resisters in the US and Britain – Supporting the Case for a Right to Selective Conscientious Objection?, Andrea Ellner; Chapter 14 The Practice and Philosophy of Selective Conscientious Objection, Andrea Ellner, Paul Robinson, David Whetham;