M. SHANE RIZA is a command pilot and a graduate of and former instructor at the United States Air Force Weapons School. A veteran of Operations Southern and Northern Watch, he commanded a fighter squadron during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He holds three master’s degrees, the most recent in national resource strategy from the National Defense University. He is a resident of Dallas, Texas, and has a home in the North Georgia mountains.
"Killing without Heart is a book that any policy maker and national
decision maker should pick up and read to better be informed on the
morality of unmanned and autonomous weapons systems."—Daniel P.
Sukman, Strategos
"The controversy surrounding the use of drones and other unmanned
weapons systems grows daily, and Shane Riza's Killing Without Heart
is a critical addition to the debate. Few authors integrate the
concerns of ethics, law, military operations, and national security
policy as well as this fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. At a
time when the United States is turning to such weapons to minimize
casualties, especially its own, and diminish public unease with
war, Riza makes a call of conscience to the public and
policymakers. He reminds them war is a matter of death and the
ability to use violent force so selectively with little human
involvement may make it more tempting to use. Killing with
impunity, real or perceived, has political, legal, and moral
consequences for the attacker that should not be
ignored—particularly in a democracy that claims effective civilian
control of the military and full accountability for its decisions.
War, Shane Riza reminds us, ultimately must be a human act because
of its demand for life. Anything less, regardless of technological
sophistication, may be a step backwards. This is a book senior
civilian and military leaders must read, and it deserves equal
attention from academics and others who concern themselves with
national security. It will be hard to find a clearer explanation of
the issues and what is at stake."—KEN MOSS, professor, Eisenhower
School for National Security and Resource Strategy, and author of
Undeclared War and the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy
"An important and timely work about a phenomenon that technological
advances are making ever more possible: the deployment of
autonomous weapons systems. Concerned with the ease with which
America now uses lethal force with impunity, Riza raises essential
ethical, moral, legal, and operational questions that civilian
policymakers, military officials, and citizens should consider
before the United States fields killer robots. An excellent
book."—MICAH ZENKO, Council on Foreign Relations and author of
Between Threats and War: U.S. Discrete Military Operations in the
Post-Cold War World
"In an unusually articulate, well-organized, and brilliantly
written book, Shane Riza implores us not to be seduced by
technology but to search our hearts and minds and make moral and
objective decisions about robotic systems in military operations.
Using his experiences as an air warrior, his training in moral
reasoning and his gift for scientific research, he has produced a
highly readable book that will appeal to the profession of arms, to
the moral philosopher, and to the government policymaker. The real
value here is the articulate basis for classroom discussion on the
moral dilemma of our time. The unique organization, nuanced
articulation of complex ideas, and interdisciplinary thought
process are trailblazing. This is a book that one cannot put
down—its contents will haunt you. A work that will be well and
repeatedly used by those studying the ramifications of robotic
warfare."—WILLIAM G. ECKHARDT, U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.), Judge
Advocate Corps, and chief My Lai prosecutor; University of
Missouri, Kansas City Teaching Professor of Law
"'The sweat from the fear of death has a smell all its own…' You
won’t read another book on robotics and warfare quite like this
one. Col. Shane Riza joins the sparse ranks of fighter pilots who
ruminate – and write about it. All the intellectual content is
here, with plenty of just war theory and Hiroshima and Xenophon
peppered in alongside the Predators and Hellfires. What’s so
unusual about Killing Without Heart is how Riza turns his own
experience of war, family, and matters of the heart into an
extended essay on morality, autonomy and the necessary hesitation
of the trained killer. His insights make for a unique take on how
unmanned vehicles affect morality in war. Riza asks hard questions.
Will unmanned warfare once and for all destroy any vestige of a
warrior ethos in technologically advanced militaries? Does
automated warfare remove the sense of the tragic and alter our
understanding of the essence of war? Will robotic warfare
accelerate the demise of the warrior spirit, or force a new
understanding of this ancient concept? Riza’s questions make you
think. Much of his argument pivots around risk and gut feeling. And
he knows true risk first-hand: how to stifle it in the fighter
cockpit over Iraq, and how its memory intrudes in the quiet
moments, like early morning goodbyes or when tucking his children
into bed. Fighter pilots with 'the right stuff' oh so rarely put
pen to paper. Be glad Riza followed his heart to produce this
book."—REBECCA GRANT, Washington Security Forum, former director of
the General Billy Mitchell Institute for Air Power Studies, and
frequent contributor to Air Force Magazine
Ask a Question About this Product More... |