Common Rules of Engagement for the Armies of the United States and Australia: A Proposal Stranded on the Moral High Ground.

摘要

This thesis examines the viability of creating a set of standing rules of engagement (ROE) for use in combined operations by the armies of the United States and Australia. It is a critical analysis of the significant factors that influence the selection of ROE. The thesis argues that these factors are subject to deeply different interpretations by the land forces of the two nations and that there are good reasons why their ROE have evolved differently. Perhaps the most important of these reasons is the historic American tendency to view military force as something employed upon a morally inferior enemy. Although the thesis maintains that recent proposals to create a common set of standing ROE are not viable in the short term, it also identifies the factors that must structure the future debate between the countries when seeking agreement on the criteria for using force in combined operations. It also offers short term alternatives to a common set of standing ROE.