This book investigates the moral and legal legitimacy of targeted killing as a state-sanctioned counter-terrorism strategy. Tamar Meisels, a scholar in political philosophy, examines the competing arguments surrounding the practice by engaging in a structured debate with legal scholar Jeremy Waldron. The text evaluates whether such actions constitute necessary defensive measures or violate fundamental principles of international law and human rights.

Experts identify this text as a focused contribution to the ethics of modern warfare and state-sponsored violence. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for scholars and students of political philosophy and international law.