This chapter focuses on the trend towards the legitimization of targeted killing as a method of law enforcement, counter-terrorism and ‘surgical’ warfare. Topics covered include the German and Swiss concepts of the ‘final rescue shot’, the United Kingdom' shoot-to-kill policy, Israeli state policy of targeted killing, and the United States' policy of targeted killing in the framework of the so-called ‘global war on terrorism’.
Keywords: policy, Germany, Switzerland, legalization, final rescue shot, shoot-to-kill, UK, Israel, United States