"Costless" War: American and Pakistani Reactions to the U.S. Drone War

Authors

  • Aliya Robin Deri Stanford University

Keywords:

Drones, UAVs, military technology, warfare, Pakistan, War on Terror

Abstract

Since 2004, the CIA has conducted approximately 290 known strikes in Pakistan's remote Waziristan region, using robotic planes known as "drones" to carry out missions.  Targeted against militant strongholds along the Afghani border, this covert effort has successfully eliminated key Taliban leaders, such as infamous terrorist Baitullah Mehsud in 2009. In addition to its success in targeting military enemies, drone technology eliminates all risk to American military personnel.  As a result, the American political and popular response has been largely positive, and the program has continued to escalate.  However, U.S. policymakers have failed to recognize the Pakistani reaction to drone warfare, which has been overwhelmingly hostile.  This paper will analyze how the psychological nature of drone warfare—on both American attackers and Pakistani victims—has shaped the development and results of drone strikes in Pakistan.  It will discuss the disparity between Americans' view of drones as riskless and humane and Pakistanis' belief that they are dishonorable and cruel. The paper suggests that drone warfare is radicalizing and destabilizing on Pakistani society.

Author Biography

  • Aliya Robin Deri, Stanford University
    Computer Science (minor in Modern Languages) '13

Downloads

Published

2012-05-23

Issue

Vol. 5 (2012)

Section

Research Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).