Centre for Ethical Foreign Affairs
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Iain King

People and society

The limits of loyalty

Southampton FC got caught spying on rivals — so why do fans stay loyal anyway? A look at what it really takes to make us abandon our team, our country, or our tribe.
  • 4 minute read
International development

How much aid should we give?

As the US and UK abandon the 0.7% aid target, is it time to rethink how much rich nations owe the world’s poorest — and how that money should actually be spent?
  • 3 minute read
Diplomacy and foreign affairs

Should Indiana Jones eat the monkey brain?

Indiana Jones’ dinner dilemma in the Temple of Doom reveals deeper truths about diplomacy, cultural relativism, and when ends really do justify the means.
  • 12 minute read
International development

An ethical approach to international development

Global aid budgets have collapsed by $50 billion, and millions will die as a result. What does “ethical” development actually require — and are voters being told the truth about the cost of cutting it?
  • 6 minute read
International development

Fairness, not just funding: What the secure livelihoods research consortium discovered about aid

Millions in aid, yet trust in government barely moves. New research across eight fragile states reveals what really builds legitimacy — and it isn’t more roads or clinics, but fairness.
  • 2 minute read
War and conflict

How war has changed

War is back — but it doesn’t look like it used to. Why conflicts are more fragmented, more civilian-targeting, and harder to end than at any point since 1945.
  • 4 minute read
War and conflict

Can Just War Theory apply to modern conflicts?

St Augustine’s 1,600-year-old rules for a “Just War” still shape how we judge Ukraine, Kosovo, and modern conflict — but do his six conditions hold up, or need rethinking?
  • 5 minute read
People and society

Empathy: a good guide or a fatal attraction?

Is empathy making us weaker, or is that argument itself just another evolved bias in disguise? A critical look at “Suicidal Empathy” and why caring for others may still be worth dying for.
  • 4 minute read
People and society

Ethics of disinformation

When, if ever, is disinformation ethical?
  • 5 minute read
War and conflict

The ethics of modern deterrence

What happens when defending democratic values requires breaking the very rules meant to uphold them? How far can — and should — deterrence go before it stops being ethical?
  • 9 minute read