Outsourcing Duty: The Moral Exploitation of the American Soldier

Are contemporary soldiers exploited by the state and society that they defend? More specifically, have America's professional service members disproportionately carried the moral weight of America's war-fighting decisions since the inception of an all-volunteer force? In this volume, Michael J. Robillard and Bradley J. Strawser, who have both served in the military, examine the question of whether and how American soldiers have been exploited in this way. Robillard and Strawser offer an original normative theory of 'moral exploitation'--the notion that persons or groups can be wrongfully exploited by being made to shoulder an excessive amount of moral weight. They make the case that this exploitation accurately describes the relationship between the United States and the members of its military, and offer a thorough and in-depth analysis of some of the exploitative and misleading elements of present-day military recruitment, the moral burdens soldiers often bear, and the stifling effect that a 'Thank You for Your Service' and 'I support the troops' culture has had on serious public engagement about America's ongoing wars. Robillard and Strawser offer a piercing critique of the pernicious divide between military members and the civilians who direct them. They conclude by arguing for several normative and prudential prescriptions to help close this ever-widening fissure between the U.S. and its military, and within the U.S. itself. In so doing, their work gives a much needed and urgent voice to America's soldiers, the other 1%.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Nancy Sherman Introduction Chapter 1: Exploitation vs. Moral Exploitation Chapter 2: The Moral Exploitation of Soldiers Chapter 3: Soldier, Citizen, and State Chapter 4: Connections Chapter 5: Prescriptions Conclusion Epilogue by Cheyney Ryan Appendix: Criticisms, Questions, & Responses Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Michael J. Robillard is a research fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies. Prior to his time at Notre Dame, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford's Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics, focusing on issues of counter-terrorism ethics. As a former U.S. Army officer and Iraq war veteran, his academic research has focused on a variety of contemporary issues within moral and political philosophy, just war theory, and philosophy of technology. He also has several popular editorial articles concerning artificial intelligence as well as free speech in academia in Aeon, Quillette, and the New York Times. Bradley J. Strawser is an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Defense Analysis Department at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Dr. Strawser, himself a US Air Force veteran, received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Connecticut and has lectured on the ethics of war and peace, military ethics, bioethics, and development ethics throughout the United States and Europe. He has published in such peer-reviewed journals as Analysis, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Philosophia, Journal of Military Ethics, Public Affairs Quarterly, Journal of Human Rights, and Epoché. Dr. Strawser has published books with Oxford University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, and Routledge.

Review :
This fine book is no diatribe but a careful conceptual and moral analysis of the problem the civil-military divide and its moral cost. Outsourcing Duty tackles the moral issues that arise in countries where it is possible for a large majority of citizens to avoid military service and to isolate themselves from the risks and the moral responsibilities that soldiers face. In compelling detail, Outsourcing Duty describes the moral exploitation of American soldiers by citizens who profess to "support the troops" but are derelict in the performance of their own civic duties. It is a profound, persuasive, and deeply troubling book. Outsourcing Duty is the first serious and detailed analysis of the ways in which societies and governments expose their soldiers to moral as well as physical risks. The authors, both philosophers with backgrounds in the military, argue that when soldiers are compelled to fight in wars about which they are given little information, they must take responsibility for life and death decisions that involve a grave risk of wrongdoing. Because burdening them in this way is a form of exploitation in which the citizens in a democracy are implicated, this powerful book poses challenges to all of us that demand a response. This new volume takes up a critical issue in military ethics and national security: the nature of the moral sacrifices that we ask of our uniformed members and whether the burdens they willingly assume are reasonable. The authors address the nature of the problem and provide needed insights and solutions in an excellent, clearly argued, and accessible read. A must read for all those concerned with morality, justice, civilian/military relations and moral injury. Michael Robillard and Bradley Strawser's Outsourcing Duty: The Moral Exploitation of the American Soldier (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022) is outstanding.The arguments in it are important, new, and powerful, and it is extremely well'written. It is accessibly written, including eye-opening personal stories (including the authors' stories), an interesting array of economic and sociological studies, and colorful illustrative quotes from The Bourne Legacy, The Handmaid's Tale, andRudyard Kipling's poem, Tommy. It also includes colorful-and-caustic comments on the Bush- and Obama-administrations' decisions regarding going to war and staying at war that nicely highlight what is at stake. In short, the book is a tour de force.