Collateral Damage: A Candid History of a Peculiar Form of Death

The dilemmas precipitated by the unintentional but foreseen killing of civilians in war, or ‘collateral damage’, shape many aspects of modern military conduct. Yet noticeable by its absence has been a methodical examination of the place and role of collateral damage in modern warfare. This book offers a fresh perspective on this most distressing aspect of war. Rosén sorts out a number of commonly held misconceptions about collateral damage and scrutinises related key legal and political issues. His intriguing enquiry reveals how the problem is essentially linked to our ideas of authority, thereby anchoring it to the very heart of the existential riddles of our individual and collective lives. The central theme of this investigation sheds new light on some of today’s critical challenges to war and global governance, including the growing role of nonstate actors and the impact of military privatisation. As the author shows, collateral damage is intimately connected to debates about who may exert political authority and thus how a truly decentralised world order might be organised. The victims of this peculiar form of death are in many ways under-represented and ignored, but they have a significance that extends far beyond the battlefield.