Product Description

Every society and every period of history has had to face the reality of war. War inevitably yields situations in which the normal ethical rules of society have to be overridden. The Just War tradition has evolved over the centuries as a careful endeavour to impose moral discipline and humanity on resort to war and in its waging, and the tradition deserves our attention now as much as ever. Just War traces the origin and nature of the tradition from its roots in Christian thinking and provides a clear summary of its principles, which are accessible to all beliefs. As the circumstances and necessities of war have changed over time, so too have the practical interpretations of the tradition. Drawing examples from Kosovo, Afghanistan and the wars in Iraq, Charles Guthrie and Michael Quinlan look at the key concepts in relation to modern armed conflict. The tradition sets rational limits and respects the adversary's humanity amid the chaos of war, and provides systematic questions which governments and armed forces must ask themselves before they engage in war. This short but powerful book is a timely re-examination of its tenets and their relevance in the twenty-first century, setting out the case for a workable and credible moral framework for modern war before, while and after it is waged.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44532 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

Review
'I very much welcome this addition to the debate on Just War by two of the leading practitioners and thinkers of our generation. The concerns that led to the original formulation of Just War thinking are perhaps even more pertinent now in today's complex operating environment.' General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff 'This book has an importance out of proportion to its size. The Just War tradition remains wholly relevant today and for the future, and perhaps Cabinets should be reminded of it whenever they are minded to commit our armed forces to conflict. Those in positions of authority would be wise to read the book.' Field Marshal Lord Inge, Chief of the Defence Staff 1994-7 'A remarkable book, small in size but with great clarity and insight into moral and ethical principles that need to be understood and reaffirmed' Henry Kissinger

Field Marshal Lord Inge, ex-Chief of Defence Staff
'This book has an importance out of proportion to its size'

Lord Harries of Pentregarth, ex-Bishop of Oxford
'Of great value to anyone thinking about the difficult questions of war in the modern world'

Customer Reviews

Highly recommendable
Very well written and highly recommendable. This book gives an analytical thought on the just war tradition, largely based on a western and Christian tradition. It covers the ethical issues that the international community - the UN Security Council, in particular - faces in tackling peace and security challenges. Such difficult issues as humanitarian intervention, the responsibility to protect and UN Security Council's authorization of military actions are eloquently discussed, in the context of major international crises in recent decades such as Iraq (both 1991 and 2003 wars), Kosovo and Rwanda. It is also a relatively short book so that you may finish reading it well before getting bored.

Inconvenient truths about war
This book starts from the inconvenient truth that wars are unavoidable. But, if a nation decides on war it should be for just reasons and conducted in a just way. Any war is justified in self defence or assisting a country to defend itself that has been attacked by another country. It becomes complicated when starting a pre-emptive war or an intervention because the government in a country is acting very badly towards its own citizens, or different citizen groups are attacking each other. Examples of just wars are support to South Korea in its war with North Korea and China, support to Kuwait after invasion by Iraq, intervention in the Kosovo conflict, attack of Afghanistan after 6/11. The authors are less certain, that is, not completely certain if it was right or wrong, with the Falklands War, and the second Iraq war. About conduct they are certain that dropping the atom bombs on Japan was just and almost certain that it was wrong to bomb civil targets in Germany after it was clear that Germany was losing the war.
The authors present six principles specifying conditions that all have to be fulfilled before a war is just and two principles for right conduct. These principles are excellent and everybody should know them. The fact that the authors do not express definitive opinions about several wars, even with the benefit of hindsight shows how hard it is to arrive at conclusions, even with the principles. The authors in their conclusion write "This book is no more than a broad general survey of how the Just War tradition bears upon the morality of undertaking and conducting military operations in the twenty first century". I look forward to the book that should follow after this introduction that makes more definitive judgement about past wars and may even include something about what could have been done and can be done in the future to prevent just wars from happening.

Very helpful
I am just starting a University course in War and Socirety and this provides a short, easy to read introduction to a just war.