The Just War Theory

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that the just war theory is based on the ideal that war should be "restrained, made more humane and ultimately directed towards the aim of establishing lasting peace and justice." The paper discusses how in order for a war to be considered "just," it must fit a set of predefined criteria. The paper discusses President Bush's declaration of war against terrorism, the Vietnam war and the American Civil War. The paper reveals that the difficulty with forming a "just war" is that there is no person capable of applying the criteria; which person can impose a definition of harm versus good?

From the Paper:

"While humanizing war efforts is effective in minimizing cost, trade damage, and loss of life, it also has another significant advantage: by agreeing upon certain conventions for war, the two enemies have established that the war is between two rational parties that, despite their irresolvable conflict or conflicts, understand that war is an ends to a means and not a trend to be set and never revoked. "It is only when the enemy is seen to be a people with whom one will do business in the following peace that tacit or explicit rules are formed for how wars should be fought and who they should involve." "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Just War Theory. Article on-line. Available from http://www.justwartheory.com.
• Justifying the Conflict. Article on-line. Available from http://ballarat.yourguide.com.au/printerFriendlyPage.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=217074.
• Moseley, Alexander. Just War Theory. Martin, TN: University of Tennessee in Martin, 2006. Article on-line. Available from http://www.iep.utm.edu/j/justwar.htm.
• The Civil War. Article on-line. Available from http://www.civilwar.com.
• The Gulf War: Kuwait. Article on-line. Available from http://www.indepthinfo.com/iraq/kuwait.shtml.

More papers on The Just War Theory:

• Analytical Essay # 117976 : "The Just War Theory and St. Thomas Aquinas"
• Term Paper # 135960 : "The Just War Theory"
• Essay # 3336 : "The Just War Theory on the War Against Drugs"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: