Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq - Softcover

Bellamy, Alex J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745632831 ISBN 13: 9780745632834

Publisher: Polity, 2006

Synopsis

In what circumstances is it legitimate to use force? How should force be used? These are two of the most crucial questions confronting world politics today.

The Just War tradition provides a set of criteria which political leaders and soldiers use to defend and rationalize war. This book explores the evolution of thinking about just wars and examines its role in shaping contemporary judgements about the use of force, from grand strategic issues of whether states have a right to pre-emptive
self-defence, to the minutiae of targeting.

Bellamy maps the evolution of the Just War tradition, demonstrating how it arose from a myriad of sub-traditions, including scholasticism, the holy war tradition, chivalry, natural law, positive law, Erasmus and Kant's reformism, and realism from Machiavelli to Morgenthau. He then applies this tradition to a range of contemporary normative dilemmas related to terrorism, pre-emption, aerial bombardment and humanitarian intervention.

About this title

About the Author

Alex Bellamy is Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Queensland.

The Just War tradition provides a set of criteria which political
leaders and soldiers use to defend and rationalize war. This book
explores the evolution of thinking about just wars and examines its role
in shaping contemporary judgements about the use of force, from grand
strategic issues of whether states have a right to pre-emptive
self-defence, to the minutiae of targeting.

Bellamy maps the evolution of the Just War tradition, demonstrating how
it arose from a myriad of sub-traditions, including scholasticism, the
holy war tradition, chivalry, natural law, positive law, Erasmus and
Kant's reformism, and realism from Machiavelli to Morgenthau. He then
applies this tradition to a range of contemporary normative dilemmas
related to terrorism, pre-emption, aerial bombardment and
humanitarian intervention.

The Just War tradition provides a set of criteria which political
leaders and soldiers use to defend and rationalize war. This book
explores the evolution of thinking about just wars and examines its role
in shaping contemporary judgements about the use of force, from grand
strategic issues of whether states have a right to pre-emptive
self-defence, to the minutiae of targeting.

Bellamy maps the evolution of the Just War tradition, demonstrating how
it arose from a myriad of sub-traditions, including scholasticism, the
holy war tradition, chivalry, natural law, positive law, Erasmus and
Kant's reformism, and realism from Machiavelli to Morgenthau. He then
applies this tradition to a range of contemporary normative dilemmas
related to terrorism, pre-emption, aerial bombardment and
humanitarian intervention.

Edition details

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745632831
• ISBN 13: 9780745632834
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296