Book Description

The use of unmanned aerial systems -- commonly referred to as drones -- over the past decade has revolutionized how the United States uses military force. As the technology has evolved from surveillance aircraft to an armed platform, drones have been used for a wide range of military missions: the United States has successfully and legitimately used armed drones to conduct hundreds of counterterrorism operations in battlefield zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. It has also used armed drones in non-battlefield settings, specifically in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines. Collectively, these strikes have eliminated a number of suspected terrorists and militants from Asia to Africa at no cost in terms of U.S. casualties, an advantage of drones over manned platforms that has made them attractive to many other states. However, non-battlefield strikes have drawn criticism, particularly those conducted under the assertion that they are acts of self-defense. Though the United States remains the lead actor in terms of possessing and using armed drones, the rest of the world is quickly catching up. Russia, China, Iran, South Korea, and Taiwan, for example, have begun to develop increasingly sophisticated indigenous drone capabilities. Other countries, including Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have publicized their intent to purchase them. The direct consequences of armed drone proliferation on U.S. national security are several years out, but the policymaking decisions that will shape those consequences confront the Obama administration today. How the United States uses armed drones and for what purposes will contribute to the norms that will influence how states use them in the future. Under the leadership of the United States, norms regarding the proliferation and use of weapons -- from nuclear and biological weapons to blinding lasers and antipersonnel landmines -- have been overwhelmingly adopted and followed. Similar efforts should be made for the proliferation and use of armed drones, even if not all states abide by these norms. U.S. export policy will determine, to a certain extent, which states acquire what types of armed drones, and will set expectations about appropriate exports by other armed drone producers. If the United States reinforces multilateral institutions designed to limit armed drone proliferation, it will have the ability to shape the constraints that other states will face when acquiring drones.