Just as the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq defined the War on Terror under President Bush, drone strikes became ubiquitous with counterterrorism under Bush’s successors. Presidents Obama and Trump ordered drone strikes within and outside of war zones to disrupt terrorist networks like IS, Al Shabab, and AQAP, and to conduct controversial assassinations, including radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011 and Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020. This January, President Biden appeared to open the next chapter in drone warfare and counterterrorism strategy, placing new restrictions on U.S. military and intelligence drone operators, and conducting a comprehensive review of the legal and policy frameworks governing drone strikes.
From Inauguration Day onward, the Biden administration has required White House authorization for drone strikes outside of war zones like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Due to the imposed limits, “the military and the C.I.A. must now obtain White House permission to attack terrorism suspects in poorly governed places where there are scant American ground troops, like Somalia and Yemen” (NYT). This departs from the Trump administration’s approach to drone warfare, which gave the military and C.I.A. greater autonomy in deciding when to carry out drone strikes against terrorist targets. However, the Biden administration’s restrictions are temporary, pending the completion of its policy review. The policy review could prove a landmark in the evolution of drone warfare, which has been a major element of counterterrorism strategy.
Questions and Background
- How do drone strikes fit into broader U.S. grand strategy?
- Does drone warfare continue to be a critical tool in the war against terrorist and militant organizations worldwide?
- Should all military actions taken outside of war zones be specifically approved by the President, or should local commanders have decision-making authority? What are the costs and benefits of requiring higher-level approval for drone strikes?
- Should Congress impose more limitations on the President’s exercise of military force?
Biden Can Bolster Horn of Africa Security Without Huge Deployments
AHS’s Michael Rubin. National Interest. January 24, 2021.
Warfare is Evolving Fast. We Need a Secretary of Defense Who is an Agent of Change
AHS’s Max Boot. The Washington Post. December 8, 2020.
In Future Wars, the U.S. Military Will Have Nowhere to Hide
AHS’s Michael Beckley Foreign Policy. November 21, 2021.
Watch: U.S. Counterterrorism Coordinator Nathan Sales on Counterterrorism Policy
Nathan Sales, Katherine Zimmerman, Bruce Hoffman. American Enterprise Institute. January 14, 2021.