'A thoroughly researched, balanced, and well-written constructivist work that has utility for the student of war. It has immediate relevance for military officers and defense community scholars who must grapple with new forms of war and our enemies who utilize them.' 'Lucid, informed and authoritative -- one of those rare books which will be required reading for years to come. One learns as much about the nature of war itself and our relationship with it as about the specific issue of targeted killings.' -- Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics, author of Rebooting Clausewitz: 'On War' in the Twenty-First Century 'President Trump is set to continue the Obama and Bush policies of targeted killings. Whether you think they should be condemned as counter-productive illegal assassination or commended as the most effective way found to date to rid the world of ruthless terrorists, you will find arguments to challenge you in Jack McDonald's book. He lays painfully bare the contested relationship between war, technology, violence and law and the origins of the present controversy over transnational war waged at the individual level.' -- Sir David Omand GCB, former director of GCHQ and author of Securing the State 'There has been a plethora of books on drones and their activities; none of them has yet effectively hit, so to speak, the issue of targeted killings and the law. This book does that. For students of current conflict, international law or air power, this must be the set book on targeted killings, especially by drones, and the law that supposedly encompasses their use.' -- Frank Ledwidge, author of Rebel Law: Insurgents, Courts and Justice in Modern Conflict