Just War Theory

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a basic outline of just war theory, drawing from Michael Walzer's book "Just and Unjust Wars" and Brian Orend's book "The Morality of War". Just war theory is used to determine whether or not a war is indeed justifiable. In simplest terms, a war is just if one country imposes moral and physical aggression on another country. The paper uses this theory to examine particular examples from contemporary history, such as the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the war on Iraq and terrorism. In conclusion, the paper maintains that determining whether a war is just or unjust remains complex and controversial.

From the Paper:

"Just war theory begins with a theory of aggression and a consideration of the limits of aggression. Such an approach is not surprising to most people today as it might have been in the past. After the War in Vietnam, the issue of the just war has been much argued as political leaders and the press consider every potential military action and whether or not it can be justified as an ethical and moral decision. War as a defensive measure is more clearly an ethical action, for instance, while any sort of pre-emptive war has to be justified. The current war in Iraq was justified by the Bush administration as a pre-emptive act to defend against purported nuclear weapons (or weapons of mass destruction, as they were called), and such a defensive act would make this a just war. The fact that no such weapons were found after the fact raised numerous questions about the justness of the war, questions which the administration continues to gloss over while trying to justify the war on the basis of crimes committed by Saddam Hussein, or because of supposed terrorist ties, or for whatever reason works best. Orend would not accept such shifting territory as a real justification, and certainly Michael Walzer, the best known theorist on the subject, also would not."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gacek, Christopher M. The Logic of Force. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
• Orend, Brian. The Morality of War. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2006.
• Pojman, Louis P. Life and Death. Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 1992.
• Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars. New York: Basic Books, 1977.

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