Abstract
Scholars tend to evaluate U.S. presidents’ use of drone warfare in materialist or social terms. Rather, this chapter argues that presidents’ use of drones derives from strategic and legal-normative frames that integrate these considerations. These frames shape presidents’ decisions to use drone warfare. By applying this blended framework to President Barack Obama’s use of drones in Libya in 2011, as well as President Donald Trump’s use of a strike against Qasem Suleimani in 2020, this chapter shows that presidents’ decisions to employ drone warfare are made to achieve both state and social goals. The balance between these aims is informed by, and constitutive of, presidents’ strategic and legal-normative frames. This suggests that the perceived (il)legitimacy of drone warfare may relate more to the impact of strikes on the relationship between norms and interests, and not the military or political nature of targets, as some ethicists claim.
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