Moral Constraints on War: Principles and Cases

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Bruno Coppieters, N. Fotion
Lexington Books, 2002 - 321 pages
Moral Constraints on War offers a principle-by-principle presentation of the transcultural roots of the ethics of war in an age defined by the increasingly international nature of military intervention. Parts one and two trace the evolution of Just War theory, analyzing the principles of jus ad bellum and jus in bello: the principles that determine under what conditions a war may be started and then conducted. Each chapter provides the historical background of the principle under discussion, an explanation of the principle, and numerous historical examples of its application. In Part three, case studies apply the theories discussed to the Gulf War, the 1994 Russian intervention in Chechnya, NATO's humanitarian mission in Kosovo, and the U.S. military's actions in Afghanistan in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks. Bringing together an international coterie of philosophers and political scientists this accessible and practical guide offers students of military ethics, international law, and social conflict rich, up-to-the-minute insight into the pluralistic character of Just War Theory.

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Contents

Jus and Bellum
25
Legitimate Authority
41
Right Intentions
59
Likelihood of Success
79
Proportionality
91
Last Resort
101
Jus in Bello
129
Discrimination
141
The First Chechen War 19941996
177
The NATO Intervention in the Kosovo Crisis MarchJune 1999
205
NATOs Intervention in the Kosovo Crisis Whose Justice?
229
After Kosovo Moral and Legal Constraints on Humanitarian Intervention
247
The Military Response of the USLed Coalition to the September 11 Attacks
265
Concluding Comments
293
Index
309
About the Contributors
319

Cases
161

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Page 4 - You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I wilL War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it: and those who brought war into our Country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to Secure Peace. But you cannot have Peace and a Division of our Country.
Page 5 - You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride.
Page 2 - In international society all forms of coercion are permissible, including wars of destruction. This means that the struggle for power is identical with the struggle for survival, and the improvement of the relative power position becomes the primary objective of the internal and the external policy of states.

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