Wednesday, September 19, 2012

David Boucher on the Just War tradition (summary)

David Boucher's "The just war tradition and its modern legacy: Jus as bellum and jus in bello" is an interesting description of the interplay between the ethical and legal justifications for war on the one hand, and the rules governing how war is to be fought on the other hand. This interplay is described via an analysis of the legal theorists common law, customs, conventions, and treaties. It particualr he focuses on Grotius, Pufendorf, Vatel, and the contemporary accords governing warfare.

The article largely describes the positions of the various sides regarding the question of jus in bello in cases where there maybe no jus ad bellum, i.e. do soldiers have to fight a war in a just manner if the war is politically unjust?

An interesting discussion overall.

(The article is in the European Journal of Political Theory 11(2), 92-111; 2011)

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