The Just War Theory

what is the development and rationale of the Just War Theory?

* Mainly developed in christian circles as the authorities found a tension between jesus’ commands to resist violence and in situations where they found violence to be necessary
* Both Augustine and Aquinas were influential in this theory
* There are two main elements: ius ad bellum and ius in bello 

what is ius ad bellum ?

conditions under which it would be legitimate to go to war 

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what is ius in bello?

rules under which war should be fought once it has begun

what are the ius in bello principals?

1. There has to be a principal of discrimination (non-combatants must not be directly attacked) 
2. Proportionality of means to ends

what are the ius ad bellum principals?

1. Needs to be a just cause
2. War can only be declared by legitimate authority 
3. War must be fought with the right intention 
4. There has to be reasonable probability of success 
5. War must be the last resort 
6. There must be a proportionality 

what are the weapons of mass destruction?

* Nuclear: causes a heat blast and radiation which can reach several million degrees 
* Chemical: causes injury, incapacitation or death- blindness lunch damage and will affect plant and animal life 
* Biological: bacteria and viruses, the entomological warfare uses insects to deliver biological agents 

how is discrimination a strength of the just war theory?

1. most argue that the use of weapons of mass destruction can never discriminate since they are equally likely to kill non combatants as they are to destroy military targets ( ius in bello) 

how is proportionality a weakness of the just war theory ?

1. the harm done by weapons can never be proportionate to the good that is aimed at (ius in bello). Especially with nuclear weapons as their use is likely to render any affected area contaminated and unusable for decades 

how is probability of success a weakness of the just war theory?

1.  fighting an unwinnable war would be futile. For example, the range of contamination could be as deadly to the aggressors as to the intended victims and within a few decades it will probably be possible to destroy the entire earth completely. This all goes against ius ad bellum as such wars have no probability of success  

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why cant weapons of mass destruction be applied to the just war theory for some christians?

*  as the evil threatened or caused by them would be out of proportion to any hoped-for good effects and therefore can never be just. Therefore describing nuclear weapons as intrinsically evil 

why may some arguments be seen as unworkable and unreasonable for the just war theory?

* as chemical, biological and nuclear weapons cannot be uninvented and it would be naive to imagine that countries will voluntarily give up their nuclear weapons