In Defence of WarPacifism is popular. Many hold that war is unnecessary, since peaceful means of resolving conflict are always available, if only we had the will to look for them. Or they believe that war is wicked, essentially involving hatred of the enemy and carelessness of human life. Or they posit the absolute right of innocent individuals not to be deliberately killed, making it impossible to justify war in practice. Peace, however, is not simple. Peace for some can leave others at peace to perpetrate mass atrocity. What was peace for the West in 1994 was not peace for the Tutsis of Rwanda. Therefore, against the virus of wishful thinking, anti-military caricature, and the domination of moral deliberation by rights-talk In Defence of War asserts that belligerency can be morally justified, even though tragic and morally flawed. |
Contents
| 1 | |
1 Against Christian pacifism | 16 |
2 Love in war | 61 |
Can it survive combat? | 92 |
Lessons from the Somme and the First World War | 111 |
5 Against legal positivism and liberal individualism | 149 |
Legality morality and Kosovo | 214 |
The case of Iraq | 251 |
Conclusion | 326 |
| 335 | |
| 351 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
according aggressor al-Qaeda Aquinas argued atrocious attritional Augustine authority basic battle bellum Blair British Brownlie cause Chapter civilian claim culpable David Rodin death End of Iraq enemy Ethics evil fact force forgiveness Gary Sheffield German God’s Grotius Haig harm hatred Hauerwas Hays Hays’s Hew Strachan human humanitarian intervention Ian Brownlie Ibid implies innocent intention international law invasion of Iraq Iraq’s Iraqi Jesus judgement justice justified killing Kosovo London means military action military intervention moral moral realism motivated national defence NATO’s nature Nevertheless O’Connell obligation one’s Oxford pacifist peace political proportionate punishment punitive reason regime resentment response retribution Richard Haas Rodin Saddam Hussein Security Council self-defence sense sinners soldiers Somme Stanley Hauerwas Suárez Summa Theologiae t]he Testament theory threat tion Tony Blair University Press unjust vengeance victims violation violence Vitoria weapons World writes wrong wrongdoer wrongdoing Yoder