Other Writings
Studies Say Americans Don't Care About the Laws of War. Here's Why They're Wrong.
We should be cautious of making inferences about American attitudes on war from surveys that fail to mention civilians, or prime respondents to think in black and white. Our study confirms findings from other recent studies: when you mention civilian deaths, Americans overwhelmingly oppose military action. But push-pollsters interested in drumming up support for war crimes can easily manipulate responses do the opposite. The informed public and foreign policy analysts should be on the alert for such skewed polls, or for suggestions that bombing civilians is a legitimate policy option.
How Scared Are Folks of Killer Robots? How We Can Know and Why It Can Matter.
There is one question in this controversy that social scientists will agree is amenable to empirical inquiry: how do people feel about the idea of outsourcing targeting decisions to machines?