From Humane War to Pacifism: Critiquing the Use of ‘Human Dignity’ in the Debate Over Autonomous Weapons Systems

Abstract Criticism of ‘humane war’ has become commonplace over recent years as a number of studies have emerged exploring the perverse effects of discourses and practices surrounding arms control, international humanitarian law, and just war theory. The primary thrust of these arguments is that war has been rendered more palatable to a privileged – primarily Western – audience through the introduction of legal mechanisms for the control of weapons and warfighting. I argue that the campaign for control over new and emerging autonomous weapons systems ( aws ) is susceptible to this critique, and that this is manifest in the argument that such weapons are an affront to ‘human dignity’. The upshot of this argument is a call to focus more resources and energy on pacifist or war abolitionist campaigns, as this is the only path by which a genuine, morally consistent, and non-co-optable stance against the horrors of war can be maintained.