Pierce challenges the argument that economic sanctions are always morally preferable to the use of military force. His analysis shows that economic sanctions also inflict great pain, suffering, and physical harm on the innocent population of noncombatants and that small-scale military operations are sometimes preferable. Lori Fisler Damrosch’s framework for ethical analysis, Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars, and the case of Haiti are used to support his argument.
