| In an age of terrorism, guerilla and total warfare | | | | Having just cause (especially and, according to the |
| the medieval doctrine of Just War needs to be | | | | United Nations Charter, exclusively, self-defense); |
| re-defined. Moreover, issues of legitimacy, efficacy | | | | Being (formally) declared by a proper authority; |
| and morality should not be confused. Legitimacy is | | | | Possessing a right intention; |
| conferred by institutions. Not all morally justified | | | | Having a reasonable chance of success; |
| wars are, therefore, automatically legitimate. | | | | The end being proportional to the means used." |
| Frequently the efficient execution of a battle plan | | | | Yet, the evolution of warfare - the invention of |
| involves immoral or even illegal acts. | | | | nuclear weapons, the propagation of total war, |
| As international law evolves beyond the ancient | | | | the ubiquity of guerrilla and national liberation |
| percepts of sovereignty, it should incorporate new | | | | movements, the emergence of global, |
| thinking about pre-emptive strikes, human rights | | | | border-hopping terrorist organizations, of |
| violations as casus belli and the role and standing | | | | totalitarian regimes, and rogue or failed states - |
| of international organizations, insurgents and | | | | requires these principles to be modified by adding |
| liberation movements. | | | | these tenets: |
| Yet, inevitably, what constitutes "justice" depends | | | | That the declaring authority is a lawfully and |
| heavily on the cultural and societal contexts, | | | | democratically elected government. |
| narratives, mores, and values of the disputants. | | | | That the declaration of war reflects the popular |
| Thus, one cannot answer the deceivingly simple | | | | will. |
| question: "Is this war a just war?" - without first | | | | (Extension of 3) The right intention is to act in |
| asking: "According to whom? In which context? | | | | just cause. |
| By which criteria? Based on what values? In which | | | | (Extension of 4) ... or a reasonable chance of |
| period in history and where?" | | | | avoiding an annihilating defeat. |
| Being members of Western Civilization, whether | | | | (Extension of 5) That the outcomes of war are |
| by choice or by default, our understanding of | | | | preferable to the outcomes of the preservation |
| what constitutes a just war is crucially founded on | | | | of peace. |
| our shifting perceptions of the West. | | | | Still, the doctrine of just war, conceived in Europe |
| Imagine a village of 220 inhabitants. It has one | | | | in eras past, is fraying at the edges. Rights and |
| heavily armed police constable flanked by two | | | | corresponding duties are ill-defined or mismatched. |
| lightly equipped assistants. The hamlet is beset by | | | | What is legal is not always moral and what is |
| a bunch of ruffians who molest their own families | | | | legitimate is not invariably legal. Political realism and |
| and, at times, violently lash out at their neighbors. | | | | quasi-religious idealism sit uncomfortably within the |
| These delinquents mock the authorities and ignore | | | | same conceptual framework. Norms are vague |
| their decisions and decrees. | | | | and debatable while customary law is only partially |
| Yet, the village council - the source of legitimacy - | | | | subsumed in the tradition (i.e., in treaties, |
| refuses to authorize the constable to apprehend | | | | conventions and other instruments, as well in the |
| the villains and dispose of them, by force of arms | | | | actual conduct of states). |
| if need be. The elders see no imminent or present | | | | The most contentious issue is, of course, what |
| danger to their charges and are afraid of potential | | | | constitutes "just cause". Self-defense, in its |
| escalation whose evil outcomes could far | | | | narrowest sense (reaction to direct and |
| outweigh anything the felons can achieve. | | | | overwhelming armed aggression), is a justified |
| Incensed by this laxity, the constable - backed | | | | casus belli. But what about the use of force to |
| only by some of the inhabitants - breaks into the | | | | (deontologically, consequentially, or ethically): |
| home of one of the more egregious thugs and | | | | Prevent or ameliorate a slow-motion or |
| expels or kills him. He claims to have acted | | | | permanent humanitarian crisis; |
| preemptively and in self-defense, as the criminal, | | | | Preempt a clear and present danger of aggression |
| long in defiance of the law, was planning to attack | | | | ("anticipatory or preemptive self-defense" against |
| its representatives. | | | | what Grotius called "immediate danger"); |
| Was the constable right in acting the way he did? | | | | Secure a safe environment for urgent and |
| On the one hand, he may have saved lives and | | | | indispensable humanitarian relief operations; |
| prevented a conflagration whose consequences | | | | Restore democracy in the attacked state |
| no one could predict. On the other hand, by | | | | ("regime change"); |
| ignoring the edicts of the village council and the | | | | Restore public order in the attacked state; |
| expressed will of many of the denizens, he has | | | | Prevent human rights violations or crimes against |
| placed himself above the law, as its absolute | | | | humanity or violations of international law by the |
| interpreter and enforcer. | | | | attacked state; |
| What is the greater danger? Turning a blind eye | | | | Keep the peace ("peacekeeping operations") and |
| to the exploits of outlaws and outcasts, thus | | | | enforce compliance with international or bilateral |
| rendering them ever more daring and insolent - or | | | | treaties between the aggressor and the attacked |
| acting unilaterally to counter such pariahs, thus | | | | state or the attacked state and a third party; |
| undermining the communal legal foundation and, | | | | Suppress armed infiltration, indirect aggression, or |
| possibly, leading to a chaotic situation of "might is | | | | civil strife aided and abetted by the attacked |
| right"? In other words, when ethics and | | | | state; |
| expedience conflict with legality - which should | | | | Honor one's obligations to frameworks and |
| prevail? | | | | treaties of collective self-defense; |
| Enter the medieval doctrine of "Just War" (justum | | | | Protect one's citizens or the citizens of a third |
| bellum, or, more precisely jus ad bellum), | | | | party inside the attacked state; |
| propounded by Saint Augustine of Hippo (fifth | | | | Protect one's property or assets owned by a |
| century AD), Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) | | | | third party inside the attacked state; |
| in his "Summa Theologicae", Francisco de Vitoria | | | | Respond to an invitation by the authorities of the |
| (1548-1617), Francisco Suarez (1548-1617), Hugo | | | | attacked state - and with their expressed |
| Grotius (1583-1645) in his influential tome "Jure Belli | | | | consent - to militarily intervene within the territory |
| ac Pacis" ("On Rights of War and Peace", 1625), | | | | of the attacked state; |
| Samuel Pufendorf (1632-1704), Christian Wolff | | | | React to offenses against the nation's honor or its |
| (1679-1754), and Emerich de Vattel (1714-1767). | | | | economy. |
| Modern thinkers include Michael Walzer in "Just and | | | | Unless these issues are resolved and codified, the |
| Unjust Wars" (1977), Barrie Paskins and Michael | | | | entire edifice of international law - and, more |
| Dockrill in "The Ethics of War" (1979), Richard | | | | specifically, the law of war - is in danger of |
| Norman in "Ethics, Killing, and War" (1995), Thomas | | | | crumbling. The contemporary multilateral regime |
| Nagel in "War and Massacre", and Elizabeth | | | | proved inadequate and unable to effectively |
| Anscombe in "War and Murder". | | | | tackle genocide (Rwanda, Bosnia), terror (in Africa, |
| According to the Catholic Church's rendition of this | | | | Central Asia, and the Middle East), weapons of |
| theory, set forth by Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of | | | | mass destruction (Iraq, India, Israel, Pakistan, |
| the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops | | | | North Korea), and tyranny (in dozens of members |
| in his Letter to President Bush on Iraq, dated | | | | of the United Nations). |
| September 13, 2002, going to war is justified if | | | | This feebleness inevitably led to the resurgence of |
| these conditions are met: | | | | "might is right" unilateralism, as practiced, for |
| "The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the | | | | instance, by the United States in places as diverse |
| nation or community of nations [is] lasting, grave, | | | | as Grenada and Iraq. This pernicious and ominous |
| and certain; all other means of putting an end to it | | | | phenomenon is coupled with contempt towards |
| must have been shown to be impractical or | | | | and suspicion of international organizations, |
| ineffective; there must be serious prospects of | | | | treaties, institutions, undertakings, and the |
| success; the use of arms must not produce evils | | | | prevailing consensual order. |
| and disorders graver than the evil to be | | | | In a unipolar world, reliant on a single superpower |
| eliminated." | | | | for its security, the abrogation of the rules of the |
| A just war is, therefore, a last resort, all other | | | | game could lead to chaotic and lethal anarchy with |
| peaceful conflict resolution options having been | | | | a multitude of "rebellions" against the emergent |
| exhausted. | | | | American Empire. International law - the formalism |
| The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy sums up | | | | of "natural law" - is only one of many competing |
| the doctrine thus: | | | | universalist and missionary value systems. Militant |
| "The principles of the justice of war are | | | | Islam is another. The West must adopt the |
| commonly held to be: | | | | former to counter the latter. |