3.1 war and peace

Question 1

What are the three types of just war theory?

Answer 1

Jus ad bellum
Jus in bello
Jus post bellum

Question 2

What is meant by jus ad bellum?

Answer 2

considering starting a war, deciding whether a nation has the moral right to go to war against another

Question 3

What are the criteria for jus ad bellum?

Answer 3

• just cause
• legitimate authority
• right intention
• last resort
• likelihood of success
• proportionality
• comparative justice

Question 4

What is meant by just cause?

Answer 4

• the reason to go to war must be defence only, to restore peace, or to remove a political threat

Question 5

What is meant by a legitimate authority?

Answer 5

• the decision to go to war must be made by a democratically elected leader
• BUT who decides if it is a legitimate authority

Question 6

What is meant by the right intention?

Answer 6

• based on Augustine’s principle of ‘seek good and avoid evil’
• BUT how can you judge what a genuine good intention is? surely it is subjective

Question 7

What is meant by the last resort?

Answer 7

• every means to avoid war must’ve been used
• BUT could the last resort be too late?

Question 8

What is meant by the likelihood of success?

Answer 8

• there has to be a reasonable chance that the intended outcome will be achieved
• BUT can we ever be certain of the outcome?

Question 9

What is meant by proportionality?

Answer 9

• war should be proportionate to its cause

Question 10

What is meant by comparative justice?

Answer 10

• both sides must be fairly considered
• BUT Vardy argues that ‘almost always there may be justice on both sides of a dispute’

Question 11

What is meant by jus in bello?

Answer 11

just conduct in war

Question 12

What are the two principles surrounding just conduct in war?

Answer 12

1. principle of proportionality = use of weapons should be in proportion to the threat posed
2. principle of discrimination = considers the question of who is a legitimate target in war

Question 13

What is meant by jus post bellum?

Answer 13

post war justice

Question 14

What is the criteria for jus post bellum?

Answer 14

• punishment for war crimes - e.g. Nuremberg trials
• proportionality
• discrimination - don’t punish the people for the crimes of their leaders
• compensation
• rights vindication - the rights removed by the defeated must be restored (liberal interventionism)

Question 15

What did Walter Wink argue about just war theory?

Answer 15

• no war can be considered just because war tries to put you in an unequal position to your opponent

Question 16

What does R Holmes argue about just war theory?

Answer 16

• the idea of a just war encourages war because it has the political and psychological effect of suggesting that war is sometimes acceptable

Question 17

What are some strengths of JW theory?

Answer 17

• its practical and realistic
• its relevant to both Christian and secular audiences
• political realism = countries are naturally in competition with each other to survive

Question 18

What is absolute pacifism?

Answer 18

• opposition to war and violence as a means of setting disputes: specifically: refusal to bear arms on moral/religious grounds
• commonly rooted in the sermon on the mt
• supported by Quakers and MLK
• war can NEVER be justified

Question 19

What is personal pacifism?

Answer 19

• Augustine: a Christian should always be a pacifist in their personal relationships with others

Question 20

What is contingent pacifism?

Answer 20

• If I am in a reasonable position to use violence proportionately to achieve peace then I am obliged to act

Question 21

What is relative/selective pacifism?

Answer 21

• the main general rule is pacifism BUT if the situation is extreme enough the violence could be justified

Question 22

What is nuclear pacifism?

Answer 22

• nuclear war is always disproportionate and can never result in peace and therefore could never be justified because of the scale of destruction
• supported by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Question 23

What does Stephen Long argue about pacifism?

Answer 23

• it doesn’t try to be an effective political strategy in all situations; it is a way to express one’s faith in God’s kingdom on Earth which promotes peace

Question 24

Weaknesses of pacifism:

Answer 24

• if everyone were a pacifist, it would be impossible to defend against aggressors - could make a country at risk of invasion because other know that country will not respond
• Christian realism = the corrupt nature of mankind means that war is inevitable and necessary in order to keep a just and ordered society

Question 25

The UK involvement in the 2003 Iraq War and JW theory:

Answer 25

• jus ad bellum = the Chilcot Report found that the UK chose to join the invasion before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted - military action at that point had NOT BEEN THE LAST RESORT
• jus in bello = the use of ‘precision bombing’ by the ‘collateral damage’ raises questions as to how concerned the invading forces really were about preserving civilian lives
• jus post bellum = by the time the UK forces left Iraq in 2009, they had ‘failed to achieve their stated objectives’