The Rise of US Military Legalism

A New Theory of Military Professionalism

Doyle K. Hodges

$371.95 $297.42

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Routledge
25 November 2025

International relations; Theory of warfare & military science; Defence strategy, planning & research; International law

Series: Contemporary Security Studies

This book introduces and explains the concept of military legalism, and analyzes its importance for US military decision-making.

The book documents a change over the past 50 years in the way in which US military officers make decisions about using force, which it calls ""military legalism"". Rather than relying solely on professional military judgment and professional military ethics, officers are increasingly using legal norms and reasoning to justify their choices. This book explores how widespread this practice has become, explains why it has emerged, and examines some of its implications. Using historical cases from World War II through the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, this book traces changes in the way in which civilian policymakers have governed US military decisions about the use of force, and how the military has responded to these changes. While military legalism is normatively neither good nor bad, legalistic reasoning has been used to justify morally deficient policies, and a reliance on legal reasoning may have unanticipated and unexamined effects on the norms of civil-military relations.

This book will be of interest to students of law, military studies, ethics, and International Relations.

By: Doyle K. Hodges
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 600g
ISBN: 9781041064756
ISBN 10: 1041064756
Series: Contemporary Security Studies
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 25 November 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Doyle K. Hodges is the Dean of Academic Affairs at the US Naval War College, Newport, RI. He is a retired Naval officer and has a PhD in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.