SBE-UKRI: Cumulative Civilian Harm

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Law focuses on whether harms are excessive in each individual event but does not account for cumulative harm both with respect to harm across many events, as well as the aggregate and emergent effects of prolonged exposure to events. One of the key anticipated intellectual merits of this project is the development of a new scientific understanding of strategic proportionality. In addition, the research will illuminate how elites and citizens currently think about cumulative harm. This project investigates scientific understandings of strategic proportionality. The research will focus on key work products: (1) desk research into case, treaty law, and manuals, along with a systematic review of existing scholarship; (2) interviews with former and current senior personnel to determine if and how cumulative harm is considered in decision-making; (3) field research via survey experiments to determine attitudes towards cumulative harm. This proposal is awarded under the SBE-UKRI Lead Agency Opportunity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.