Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Principled resignation of senior military officers is sometimes justified, especially in wartime. First, except under very narrow circumstances, each of us remains a moral agent. Second, American’s hold those on the battlefield responsible for their decisions and actions, and we must hold senior generals and admirals responsible for strategic decisions and actions taken in capitals. Third, organizations—regardless of type—incur significant risks when senior officials remain silent in the face of serious wrongs. Finally, war risks, damages, changes, and often ends lives of the innocent, of the citizens who fight on behalf of their nation, and of the political community itself, even if the war does not involve an existential threat. Although my colleagues, with companion pieces in this journal, disagree, senior leaders who participate in strategic, war-waging decisions and actions are responsible to speak out, perhaps even to to leave, when the risk involves not just effectiveness but using poorly or wasting life.

Keywords

civil–military relations command/control defense policy professionalism/leadership

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bland

L. I.

(Ed.). (1996). George C. Marshall interviews and reminiscences for Forrest C. Pogue (3rd ed.). Lexington, KY: George C. Marshall Foundation.

Cohen

(2001). Supreme command: Soldiers, statesmen, and leadership in wartime. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Dubik

J. M.

(1984, Spring). Social expectations, moral obligations, and command responsibility. In Cohen

E. D.

(Ed.), The International Journal of Applied Philosophy (Vol. 2). Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University.

Dubik

J. M.

(2010, 9). Prudence, war, and civil-military relations. Army.

Dubik

J. M.

(2015, 10). Civil and military, both morally obliged to make war work. Army. Retrieved from www.ausa.org

Feaver

(2017). Resign in protest? A cure worse than most diseases. Armed Forces & Society, 43, 29–40.

Felice

(2009). How do I save my honor? War, moral integrity, and principled resignation. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield.

Hampshire

(1978). Public and private morality. In Hampshire

(Ed.), Public and private morality (pp. 23–54). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Hirschman

(1979). Exit, voice, and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations, and states. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

10.

Kaiser

(2014). No end save victory: How FDR led the nation into war. New York, NY: Basic Books.

11.

Kohn

(2017). On resignation. Armed Forces & Society, 43, 41–52.

12.

McMaster

H. R.

(1997). Dereliction of duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the lies that led to Vietnam. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

13.

Nagel

(1978). Ruthlessness in public life. In Hampshire

(Ed.), Public and private morality (pp. 75–92). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

14.

Perret

(1997). Ulysses S. Grant: Soldier and President. New York, NY: Random House.

15.

Sorely

(1998). Honorable warrior: General Harold K. Johnson and the ethics of command. Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas.

16.

Stoler

M. A.

Holt

D. D.

(2016). The papers of George Catlett Marshall (Vol. 7), “The Man of the Age,” October 1, 1949-October 16, 1959. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

17.

Walzer

(2015). Just and unjust wars: A moral argument with historical illustrations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.

18.

Williams

(1978). Politics and moral character. In Hampshire

(Ed.), Public and private morality (pp. 55–74). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

8.22 MB

Taking a “Pro” Position on Principled Resignation

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material