31. Just War Theory
SLP(E) Course
International Section | Leadership & Management Division | College of Management and Technology
Just War Theory
• ‘Middle way’ between Deontology and
Utilitarianism. Developed over 2000 years.
• Cicero, St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Hugo
Grotius & Michael Walzer.
• Guide to the strategic level in the appropriate
moral conduct of war.
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Just War | The Middle Way
Deontology:
Moral Red Lines
Realism
Just War Theory
Rights (Permissions),
but also Obligations
(Limitations)
Pacifism
Utilitarianism:
Greatest good for greatest number
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Jus ad Bellum
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Right to go to war.
Just cause.
(Comparative justice).
Legitimate authority.
Probability of success.
Last resort.
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Jus in Bello
• Right conduct in war.
• Discrimination – non-combatant immunity:
– Civilians.
– Sick & injured.
• Military necessity.
• Proportionality.
• Individual culpability.
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Jus post Bellum
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Ending a war.
Just cause for termination.
Right intention.
Public declaration & authority.
Proportionality.
Post conflict justice.
Occupation law.
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Ethics: Emerging Issues
• Links between ethics, Just War Theory &
International Law.
• Pre-emption vs preventive war.
• National Survival.
• Moral equality.
• Collateral damage.
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Ethics: Preventive War
‘The gravest danger our Nation faces lies at the
crossroads of radicalism and technology…. As a
matter of common sense and self-defence,
America will act against such emerging threats
before they are fully formed.’
George W. Bush
National Security Strategy
But is it Legal?
Is it Ethical?
Or is it just Realism in the extreme?
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Ethics: National Survival
• At what point do the Jus in Bello rules
become suspended?
– Harris & Churchill: the bombing of Germany.
– ‘They have sown the wind – now they will
reap the whirlwind’.
– Reprisals.
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Ethics: Moral Equality
• Both sides have the same privileges & are
subject to the same restrictions
• But at what point do you forfeit those
rights?
– If the conflict is radically asymmetric: terrorists?
– If the cause is unjust?
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Ethics: Collateral Damage
• Bound by:
– Necessity.
– Proportionality.
• System in place that is fit for purpose.
– UK National Targeting Directive.
• Moral high ground/public support:
– Courageous Restraint.
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31. Just War Theory
SLP(E) Course
International Section | Leadership & Management Division | College of Management and Technology
Moral Leadership and Choice
My country right or wrong
Schurz, Carl, remarks in the Senate, February 29, 1872, The Congressional Globe, vol. 45, p. 1287
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The Geneva Conventions of
1949 and their Additional
Protocols
The Geneva Conventions and
their Additional Protocols are
international treaties that
contain the most important
rules limiting the barbarity of
war. They protect people who
do not take part in the fighting
http://www.icrc.org/eng/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions/index.jsp
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Laws of War and Islam
• In the early 7th century, the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, whilst
instructing his Muslim army, laid down the following rules
concerning warfare:
• Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your
guidance in the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or
deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead
bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged
man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire,
especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the
enemy's flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass
by people who have devoted their lives to monastic
services; leave them alone
Aboul-Enein, H. Yousuf and Zuhur, Sherifa, Islamic Rulings on Warfare, p. 22,
Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, Diane Publishing Co., Darby PA
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