Ethical Assessments of Armed Forces, Military Leaders and Conduct in Warfare

The assessment covers aid to wounded soldiers at Solferino, the creation of the Red Cross movement, advocacy for neutral medical relief and the development of international humanitarian law.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers battlefield nursing and supply work, identification of missing soldiers, relief during war and disaster, and establishment of the American Red Cross.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers direct nursing in the Crimean War, sanitation reform, mortality statistics, professional nursing education, hospital design and public-health administration.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

South African anti-apartheid leader and president. The assessment covers resistance to apartheid, armed struggle, imprisonment, negotiation, democratic transition, reconciliation and government.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Sixteenth president of the United States. The assessment covers preservation of the Union, emancipation, abolition, wartime command, civil liberties and the Dakota executions.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Historical military and political assessment. George Marshall was United States Army chief of staff during the Second World War and later proposed the European Recovery Program. The Marshall Plan helped rebuild economies and reduce post-war deprivation. His senior wartime responsibility also connected him to strategic bombing, mass military mobilisation and a war effort causing enormous civilian harm.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

President of Ukraine. The assessment covers democratic election, reform and anti-corruption efforts, defence against Russian invasion, civilian protection, diplomacy, martial-law restrictions and violations attributed to Ukrainian authorities or forces.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

British prime minister during most of the Second World War. The assessment covers resistance to Nazi Germany, democratic leadership, imperial policy, civilian harm and the Bengal famine.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Historical politician assessment. Thomas Sankara pursued mass vaccination, literacy, land reform, food self-sufficiency, environmental restoration, women's emancipation and opposition to female genital mutilation and forced marriage. He rejected elite luxury and promoted public accountability. He nevertheless came to power through a military coup, prohibited normal party competition and presided over revolutionary tribunals, arbitrary detention, mistreatment of opponents and coercive Committees for the Defence of the Revolution.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Historical politician assessment. Charles de Gaulle led Free France against Nazi occupation, restored republican government and later created the stable institutions of the Fifth Republic. He ultimately accepted Algerian independence. His career also included colonial war, repression in Algeria, nuclear weapons development and a constitution that concentrated exceptional authority in the presidency.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers health-care reform, economic recovery, climate diplomacy, civil-rights policy, immigration enforcement, surveillance and the use of lethal force outside conventional battlefields.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers economic restructuring, inflation control, privatisation, home ownership, the Falklands War, industrial conflict, unemployment, inequality, policing and Section 28.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Historical politician assessment. Golda Meir helped establish and govern Israel, supported social welfare and represented a woman reaching exceptional political authority. Her governments maintained military occupation and policies denying Palestinian equality and self-determination. Her administration was also criticised for failures before the 1973 Yom Kippur War and for dismissive statements about Palestinian national identity.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Historical politician assessment. Otto von Bismarck unified Germany through calculated wars and authoritarian statecraft, then constructed a European alliance system intended to prevent another major continental war. He introduced pioneering sickness, accident, disability and old-age insurance. He also repressed socialists and Catholics, restricted press and political activity, pursued Germanisation, expelled Polish and Jewish residents and participated in colonial expansion.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

President and former prime minister of Türkiye. The assessment covers economic and health reforms, poverty reduction, refugee hosting, concentration of executive authority, repression after the attempted coup and continuing rule-of-law failures.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers allegations arising from military command, democratic accountability, military expansion into civilian government, nutrition policy, economic development, religious freedom, West Papua and suppression of dissent.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers post-genocide stability, health and development, women's participation, authoritarian elections, repression of critics, transnational intimidation and Rwanda's role in conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers nonviolent resistance to military dictatorship, personal sacrifice, democratic leadership and her government's failure to protect the Rohingya or acknowledge the scale of military atrocities.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Joining the Iraq invasion before peaceful options were exhausted, and inadequate preparation for its consequences, make the overall record negative.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers The Iraq invasion, deficient public justification, detention and interrogation abuses, civilian harm and inadequate post-war planning make the overall record substantially negative.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Combined historical-and-traditional assessment. This assessment distinguishes broadly recoverable historical conduct from reports preserved in later Islamic biography and canonical hadith, whose historical reliability varies. Muhammad promoted charity, care for orphans, community solidarity, negotiated settlements and some limits on vengeance. He also became a religious, political, judicial and military ruler; led warfare; accepted slavery and concubinage; and maintained unequal rights based on sex and religious status. Traditional sources further associate him with execution and enslavement of defeated groups, marriage and consummation at an age incompatible with modern consent standards, death for apostasy and stoning.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Forty-fifth and forty-seventh president of the United States. The assessment covers criminal-justice reform, Middle East normalisation agreements, immigration and family separation, truthfulness, the attempt to overturn the 2020 election and conduct surrounding 6 January 2021. The second term remains ongoing.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China. The assessment covers poverty reduction, infrastructure, renewable-energy expansion, centralisation of power, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, surveillance and restrictions on civil and political freedom.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia. The assessment covers economic and social reform, women's employment, political centralisation, executions, repression of dissent, the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi leadership of the Yemen coalition.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers military seizure of power, mass repression, political imprisonment, torture, economic and infrastructure policy, regional mediation, security policy and prolonged concentration of authority.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers détente, opening relations with China, arms-control diplomacy, Vietnam negotiations and US policies involving Cambodia, Bangladesh, Chile and authoritarian partners.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Bolshevik revolutionary and first head of the Soviet state. The assessment covers revolutionary government, civil war, the Red Terror, political suppression, economic coercion and the New Economic Policy.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

The assessment covers Four decades of personal dictatorship, political repression, external violence and alleged crimes against humanity during the 2011 uprising dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Prime minister of Israel. The assessment covers security policy, economic and technological development, diplomatic normalisation, occupation and settlements and the conduct of the Gaza war since October 2023.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Authoritarian rule, nationalist escalation, support for violent campaigns, persecution and forced displacement dominate the record; his trial ended without judgment after his death.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Founder and paramount leader of the People's Republic of China. The assessment covers national unification, social change, the Great Leap Forward, mass famine, political campaigns and the Cultural Revolution.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

President and former prime minister of the Russian Federation. The assessment covers domestic rule, economic outcomes, political repression, the wars against Georgia and Ukraine, occupation, civilian harm and command responsibility.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Fascist dictatorship, colonial aggression, racial laws, alliance with Nazi Germany and entry into the Second World War dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Combined political and military authority, expansion of aggressive war and systemic abuse across occupied Asia dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Leader of the Soviet Union. The assessment covers forced collectivisation, famine, political terror, purges, forced labour, industrialisation and wartime leadership.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Supreme leader of North Korea. The assessment covers totalitarian rule, political prison camps, executions, collective punishment, food insecurity, denial of freedom, nuclear and missile escalation and state cooperation with limited humanitarian programmes.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Judicially established assistance to murder, rape, mutilation, enslavement, child recruitment and terror against civilians overwhelmingly dominates the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Aggressive wars, the Anfal campaign, chemical attacks, political terror and personal dictatorship overwhelmingly dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Systematic torture, attacks on civilians, enforced disappearance, mass displacement and prolonged destructive warfare overwhelmingly dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Leader of Nazi Germany. The assessment covers dictatorship, racial persecution, genocide, aggressive war, propaganda and command responsibility from 1933 to 1945.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Leader of the Khmer Rouge regime. The assessment covers forced evacuation, forced labour, starvation, persecution, torture, mass execution and genocide from 1975 to 1979.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

The assessment covers Final judgments established genocide, crimes against humanity, terror against civilians, deportation, forcible transfer and hostage-taking.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.