Annual Report 2011 - NTNU

Science) on topic ‘Dialogues on Aquaculture and Water Footprint’. This is a theme that
enhances the research cooperation among philosophy, political science, biology, economics
and NTNU Centre of Fisheries a d Aquaculture (SeaLab).
Cross‐cutting activities are initiated between the Globalization focus areas Global Economic
Flows and Intercultural Dynamics (topic: Governance of natural resources).
New PhD project
Military power and ethics in the grey area of Afghan war: A
critical ethical‐philosophical analysis of the core values of the
Norwegian Armed Forces: Respect, responsibility and courage
Cornelia Vikan
Department of Philosophy
The point of departure of this project is Norway`s military efforts in the
war in Afghanistan, which is understood as a complex conflict. The focus
is on ethical dilemmas arising in this context. One important aspect of the
Afghanistan case is that scenarios on the ground, which the soldiers face,
shift continuously between regular warfare and an after war scenario.
This situation gives rise to ethically grey areas for the application of the
rules of war, and creates new challenges for military agents, partly related
to their traditional role in war. The empirical basis for this project is the
core values of the Norwegian Armed Forces (respect, responsibility and
courage) and cases from military operations in Afghanistan.
The project proceeds from a descriptive to a normative perspective and
asks following questions:
What do ethical dilemmas in complex conflicts look like from a military
perspective?
How should such dilemmas be approached?
This PhD project is connected to the Globalization focus area Intercultural
Dynamics: Communication, Responsibility and Development. Professor
May Thorseth from the Department of Philosophy and Henrik Syse from
PRIO supervise the project.
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