Now More than Ever: Terrorism Asymmetric Warfare, and the Just War Tradition

In: Political theology, Band 7, Heft 4, S. 461-474

Abstract

For more than fifteen hundred years, the just war tradition has provided guidance about when wars should & should not be fought. It has also incorporated standards for how wars should be fought. The tradition rejects the claim that all use of force is evil, suggesting instead that in some circumstances the failure to use force is wrong. War is never desirable, but sometimes it is both right & necessary. The just war tradition helps us understand when this is true. The tradition developed to help control conventional warfare, but it is no less applicable to the terrorism & asymmetrical warfare prevalent in contemporary conflicts. In a world where American military power is unmatched, any opponent's best option is some form of asymmetric warfare. Such warfare is frustrating to conventional forces & tempts them to respond with an "all's fair in war" approach that is both morally wrong & militarily counterproductive. Neither pacifism nor "realism" deals adequately with the challenges of twenty-first century warfare. Only the just war tradition provides clear guidance about when & how it is right to go to war & places this in the context of establishing a peace based on justice & equity. References. Adapted from the source document.