Promoting Human Values in The Context Of International Conflicts Through Encouraging Critical Thinking in Military Education

Abstract

Military education is thought to rest upon principles of human values while it is very common that units within the military bear mottos that promote virtues of human character. However, cases of military war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by soldiers are abundant across conflicts throughout history. This paradox does not necessarily point out that values regarding consideration for the ‘other entity’ are undermined, whereas those that promote courage, freedom, vigilance, and so forth are boldly present. It surely indicates the human failure of the service members to act in conformity with moral standards, especially while on the battlefield. Therefore, military academies and other sorts of military training must incorporate in their curricula the teaching of critical thinking that specifically fosters human values. This paper elaborates on the nexus between critical thinking and human values, its importance in military education and proposes some recommendations that could help to potentially alleviate the problem of crimes in international conflicts, by focusing primarily on military academies for officer-cadets. Very briefly, it also identifies the threats to critical thinking and sound judgment that challenge military education.