Keeping Our Humanity: Ensuring the Legitimacy of Military Targeting Operations Through Civilian Harm Mitigation in Increasingly Autonomous Warfare

Abstract

Over the past two decades, remote warfare, driven by technologies like armed drones and AI-enabled systems, has transformed armed conflict, reshaping how battles are fought and how civilian harm happens and is addressed. This manuscript explores how protecting civilians has become central to military legitimacy in modern warfare, especially as liberal democracies institutionalize civilian harm mitigation (CHM) in response to past failures. CHM is increasingly viewed not just as a legal or ethical obligation, but as a strategic imperative, vital to operational success and public support. As AI and autonomous technologies gain influence in targeting decisions, traditional frameworks like international humanitarian law, balancing principles of military necessity and humanity, are under pressure. The manuscript develops a framework connecting legality, legitimacy, transparency, accountability, and civilian protection, testing it across five chapters based on published research. It addresses urgent questions about how legitimacy is maintained in AI-enabled and increasingly autonomous warfare and how CHM principles can be preserved in this shifting landscape. The research also emphasizes the role of diverse stakeholders such as militaries, legal experts, technologists, and civil society, in governing the use of force amid rapid technological change. Ultimately, it offers both theoretical and practical insights into how modern militaries can uphold humanitarian principles while navigating the evolving realities of increasingly autonomous warfare.