CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Ingannamorte, Leonardo Aurelio |
|---|---|
| Title | Morality at War: A Comparative Study of Military Restraint of Russian and Ukrainian Combatants |
| Summary | Military violence remains a critical concern in the study of armed conflict and international security. Despite the proliferation of international humanitarian norms and sustained efforts to prevent wartime atrocities, acts of brutality persist – both as unintended outcomes of military operations and as manifestations of deliberate violence. This thesis examines the case of the Russo-Ukrainian war, where a marked asymmetry in the treatment of non-combatants has been observed: Russian forces have demonstrated significantly higher levels of violence than their Ukrainian counterparts. This divergence presents a theoretical puzzle, particularly in light of Ukraine's rational incentives for violence, shared institutional and cultural legacies of both armies, and mutually dehumanizing wartime rhetoric found on both sides. Focusing specifically on opportunistic violence, the study explores the restraining function of morality in warfare. It draws on the rational choice theory, evolutionary psychology, and contractarian ethics to conceptualize morality against military violence as a social contract and describe the role of combatants' motivations in producing moral restraint. Using empirical data collected through semi-structured interviews with Russian and Ukrainian combatants, the study argues that those motivated by a common cause – such as collective defense – are more likely to internalize and uphold moral norms against military violence. In contrast, when motivations are rooted in private gains, moral restraint tends to erode and eventually collapse. Thus, the thesis offers a rationalist account of moral behavior in war, reasserts the relevance of normative factors in shaping combatant conduct, and contributes to policy-oriented debates on atrocity prevention. |
| Supervisor | Merlingen, Michael |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/ingannamorte_leo.pdf |
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