CFP: Inamori Writing Prize in Military Ethics

The Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence awards an annual prize for the best papers in military ethics from current graduate and professional students and recent graduates to promote active involvement in the study and application of military ethics, including:

• Just War Theory; 
• the Conduct of War; 
• the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC); 
• International Humanitarian Law (IHL); and 
• other related fields that include the study of human rights issues in the context of 
• armed conflict. 

In an effort to foster global discussion of pressing issues in military ethics and improve the accessibility of the field in languages other than English, the Inamori Center publishes the winning papers, in print and online, in multiple languages.

Two winners will be chosen for the Inamori International Writing Prize in Military Ethics in 2024. The Inamori Center will publish the first place winning paper and an abstract of the second place winning paper in multiple languages as a special volume of The International Journal of Ethical Leadership. The 2019 - 2022 prize winners were published in English, French, and Spanish. 

This Inamori Prize complements a similar award available to Europeans and Israelis offered by the esteemed Euro-ISME (International Society for Military Ethics, European Chapter) organization. 

The Prize:

Both Inamori International Writing Prize in Military Ethics winners will also have the opportunity to give a presentation on their winning paper at the annual Euro-ISME conference. The 2024 conference is anticipated to be in person at Baltic Defense College, Tartu, Estonia. The first place winner will receive up to $2,000 in travel funding from the Inamori Center to attend the conference. In addition, both winners receive a $500 prize.

The first prize consists of:

• the opportunity to present on their paper at Euro-ISME’s annual conference;
• travel funding up to $2000;
• prize money of $500;
• the opportunity to publish the paper; and
• a commemorative award.

The second prize consists of:

• the opportunity to present on their paper at Euro-ISME’s annual conference;
• prize money of $500;
• the opportunity to publish an abstract of the paper; and
• a commemorative award.

Applications are encouraged from:

Non-European/Israeli students, either military or civilian, in a graduate or professional-level program (including law or medical students, etc.) studying for their degree at any accredited college or university or military service academy or war college (or similar). European and Israeli students are not eligible, but instead are strongly encouraged to submit to the annual Euro-ISME Thesis Prize.

Requirements for Paper:

• Submissions should be a single document in PDF format in English and a minimum of 4,000 words and a maximum of 12,500 words. To submit in a language other than English, please contact [email protected]. 
• Each submission must contain:
  • author name, contact information, and, if applicable, rank and branch of the of the military;
  • contact information of the higher education or military institution for which the paper was written; and
  • a statement on the year when the paper was successfully completed.
• Only papers written at the level of a master’s degree, equivalent, or higher are eligible. The paper submitted must have been written for a graduate or professional-level program either in the most recent academic year (2023-24) or during one of the three previous academic years (2018-19 through 2022-22). Older papers will not be considered.
• A submission on any topic of ethical concern to the military will be considered, including but not limited to military ethics, war studies, security studies, cyber warfare, military history, and other corollary topics. There must be a strong ethical theme/argument in the thesis for it to be considered for the prizes.
• The paper need not be a thesis paper or doctorate paper to be considered for this prize.

The Jury:

The jury will consist of external experts from the fields such as military ethics, philosophy, law, and history, offering a combination of field experience (the practitioner’s perspective) and academia (the theoretical perspective). 

Deadline for Submission: January 21, 2024 Contact Email: [email protected]