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Killing Machines

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Killing Machines
Open Access

Killing Machines

Trump, the Law of War, and the Future of Military Impunity
Author:
Thomas Gift, University College London
Published:
October 2025
Availability:
Not yet published - available from October 2025
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781009675888

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£23.00
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£85.00 GBP
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    Description

    What causes a Western democratic leader to stop even feigning to value the law of war? Unlike past US presidents, who at least paid lip service to the law of armed conflict, Donald Trump has openly flouted it: pardoning war criminals; denigrating the Geneva Conventions; praising torture; and discarding military norms of restraint. This gripping account depicts how Trump has upended assumptions about America's outward commitment to the law of war, exposing the conditions that make such defiance possible. Drawing on in-depth case studies and original survey analysis, Thomas Gift explains how Trump has relied on right-wing media and allies in Congress to attack the law of war – not in the shadows, but in broad daylight. Killing Machines cautions that Trump's approach is not an aberration – it's a playbook other leaders could follow. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

    • A timely and vitally important study of Trump's overt attacks on the law of war
    • Analyzes the impact on the recent wars in both Gaza and Ukraine
    • Shows how political actors worldwide employ similar tactics to undermine respect for the law of war
    • This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

    Product details

    October 2025
    Paperback
    9781009675888
    240 pages
    229 × 152 mm
    Not yet published - available from October 2025

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    Contents

    Table of Contents

    • 1. The impunity presidency
    • 2. Means
    • 3. Motive
    • 4. Opportunity
    • 5. Impunity here to stay
    • 6. Trumpism and the future of impunity.
      • Show more
    Courses
    Resources
    Additional Information
    About the authors
      Author
    • Thomas Gift , University College London

      Thomas Gift is Associate Professor and founding Director of the Centre on US Politics at University College London. He has published extensively in top scholarly journals, authored popular articles for outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Newsweek, and is a frequent contributor to major media venues including the BBC, CNN, and Bloomberg. He has held fellowships and visiting appointments at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame, Oxford, and LSE.

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