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Justice after War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Brian Orend
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Extract

Sadly, there are few restraints on the endings of wars. There has never been an international treaty to regulate war's final phase, and there are sharp disagreements regarding the nature of a just peace treaty. There are, by contrast, restraints aplenty on starting wars, and on conduct during war. These restraints include: political pressure from allies and enemies; the logistics of raising and deploying force; the United Nations, its Charter and Security Council; and international laws like the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Indeed, in just war theory—which frames moral principles to regulate wartime actions—there is a robust set of rules for resorting to war (jus ad bellum) and for conduct during war (jus in bello) but not for the termination phase of war.

Type
Articles
Information
Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 43 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 2002

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References

1 On just war theory in general, see Walzer, Michael, Just and Unjust Wars, 3rd ed. (New York: Basic Books, 2000Google Scholar); and Orend, Brian, Walzer, Michaelon War and Justice (Cardiff: University of Wales, 2000Google Scholar).

2 Decosse, David E., ed., But Was It Just? Reflections on the Morality of the Persian Gulf War (New York: Doubleday, 1992Google Scholar); Rieff, David, Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995Google Scholar); Prunier, GerardThe Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995Google Scholar); and Orend, Brian, “Crisis in Kosovo: A Just Use of Force?' Politics 19, no. 3 (1999), pp. 125–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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5 This is not to deny the importance of the robust conflict-resolution literature. Much of that literature is relevant to the present concern, but not much of it is located within the explicitly ethical values and commitments of just war theory, whereas this piece is. For more on conflict resolution in general, see Cymbal, Stephen J., ed., Strategic War Termination (New York: Praeger, 1986Google Scholar); Pillar, Paul R., Negotiating Peace: War Termination as a Bargaining Process (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983CrossRefGoogle Scholar); Albert, Stuart and Luck, Edward, eds., On the Endings of Wars (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1980Google Scholar); Taylor, A. J. P., How Wars End (London: Hamilton, 1985Google Scholar); and Osler Hampson, Fen, Nurturing Peace: Why Peace Settlements Succeed or Fail (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Institute of Peace, 1996Google Scholar).

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8 For more on jus ad bellum, see Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, pp. 3–33 and 51–125; and David Luban, “Just War and Human Rights,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 9 (1980), pp. 160–81. On law, see Roberts and Guelff, eds., Documents on the Laws of WarGoogle Scholar.

9 For more on jus in bello, see Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, pp. 34–50 and 127–224 (quote at p. 107); Thomas Nagel, “War and Massacre,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 1(1972), pp. 123–45; Robert K. Fullinwinder, “War and Innocence,” Philosaphy and Public Affairs 5 (1975), pp. 90–97; and Best, Geoffrey, War and Law Since 1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994: Oxford University Press, 1994, 1994Google Scholar).

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15 This image of just war as radical surgery, and just settlement as the subsequent therapy, came to mind while reading Oren, Nissan, “Prudence in Victory,” in Oren, Nissan, ed., Termination of War: Processes, Procodures and Aftermaths (Jerusalem: Hebrew University Press, 1982), pp. 147–64Google Scholar.

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18 One of my reviewers concurred with Walzer, drawing on the analogy of shareholders being collectively responsible, at least in financial terms, for corporate wrongdoing even when such was committed by management only. But I'm not sure that analogy holds: shareholders lose money they risked voluntarily in pursuit of capital gains, whereas citizenship is less voluntary and far weightierGoogle Scholar.

19 Walzer, , Just and Unjust Wars p. 297Google Scholar.

20 See Clark, Ramsey, The Children are Dying: The Impact of Sanctions on Iraq (New York: World View Forum, 1996Google Scholar); Amove, Anthony and Abunimah, Ali, eds., Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War (London: South End Press, 2000Google Scholar); Pierce, Albert, “Just War Principles and Economic Sanctions,” Ethics & International Affairs 10 (1996), pp. 99–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and the multi-essay exchange on the issue between Joy Gordon and George Lopez, Ethics & International Affairs 13 (1999), pp. 123–50.

21 Walzer, , Just and Unjust Warş pp. 113, 119, 267–68Google Scholar.

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25 Walzer, “Untitled,” Dissent (1995), p. 330Google Scholar.

26 Walzer, , Just and Unjust Warş p. 20Google Scholar.

27 I owe these questions to Michael WalzerGoogle Scholar.

28 Christian Barry rightly pushed me to point this outGoogle Scholar.

29 Just, Walzer and Unjust, “Wars, p. 288Google Scholar. See also Michael Reisman, W. and Antoniou, Chris T., eds., The laws of War (New York: Vintage, 1994), pp. 317–405Google Scholar.

30 Walzer, , Just and Unjust Warş pp. 292–301Google Scholar.

31 Ibid., p. 123Google Scholar.

32 The Dayton Peace Agreement, http://www.state.gov/http://www.regions/eur/bosnia/bosagree.html.

33 For more on war crimes trials, see Reisman and Antoniou, eds., The laws of War, pp. 317–405. See also Juan E. Méndez, “National Reconciliation, Transnational Justice, and the International Criminal Court,” pp. 25–44, and Thomas Pogge, “Achieving Democracy,” pp. 3–23, both in Ethics & International Affairs 15, no. 1(2001)Google Scholar.

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35 Kant, Immanuel, The Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 114–24Google Scholar; and Orend, Brian, War and International Justice: A Kantian Perspective (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2000Google Scholar).

36 Walker, Martin, The Cold War: A History (New York: Henry Holt, 1995), pp. 160–83Google Scholar.

37 See Biggar, Nigel, ed., Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2001Google Scholar).