Dr Salah Sharief

Salah Sharief is the founder and director of Wordsmiths, an online proofreading and editing company. He holds a PhD in law from the University of Leeds, where he researched the dehumanisation of drone warfare. Salah is also a community leader in Manchester wherein he mentors youth, gives workshops on productivity and time management, and lectures on spirituality and self-development.

Salah’s TEDx Talk

Wars Without Battlefields: The Dehumanisation Of Drone Warfare

Dehumanisation is used as a tool to allow us to commit crimes or atrocities that wouldn’t happen otherwise. In its most extreme form it is found in genocides such as the Rwandan genocide where Tutsis were described as “cockroaches”.

More subtly, dehumanisation occurs when distance is used to create indifference and detachment. In the Holocaust, the Nazis used Xyklon B gas to execute prisoners, creating both physical and psychological distance from the act.

For the first time in history we are now able to wage war without the presence of humans. Dr Salah Sharief explores the phenomenon of drone warfare and explains how by removing human interaction from war, we are making it easier to kill.