1st Edition

Just War in Comparative Perspective

Edited By Paul Robinson Copyright 2003
    244 Pages
    by Routledge

    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    This timely book analyses how different nations, religions and cultures justify the waging of war, and what limits they place on its use. The study includes the major world religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam and specific countries and regions including Russia, China and Africa. The case studies shed new light on the causes and justifications of current conflicts, providing a valuable source for those wishing to understand how different people around the world view the issue of war. The book crosses disciplinary boundaries and thus will be welcomed by scholars of international relations, philosophy, religion and history.

    Contents: Introduction, Paul Robinson. Jewish, Christian and Islamic Perspectives: Judaism and justice in war, George Wilkes; Catholicism and the just war tradition: the experience of moral value in warfare, Paul Dearey; Justifiable war in eastern orthodox Christianity, Alexander F.C. Webster; The justification of war in Russian history and philosophy, Paul Robinson; War, peace and the imperatives of justice in Islamic perspective: what do the 11 September 2001 attacks tell us about Islam and the just war tradition?, John Kelsay. Eastern Religious Perspectives: Buddhism and the justification of war: a case study from Sri Lanka, Elizabeth J. Harris; Pain but not harm: some classical resources toward a Hindu just war theory, Francis X. Clooney S.J.; Sikhism and just war, Gurharpal Singh. Pre-Modern Perspectives: Inauspicious tools: Chinese thought on the morality of warfare, Thomas M. Kane; The Arabs, the Byzantine state and the Islamic law of war (fiqh al-jihad) (7th-10th centuries CE), Frank R. Trombley; The rules of war in Sub-Saharan Africa, Alexander Moseley. Modern Perspectives: Justifying killing: US army chaplains of World War II, Jenel Virden; Conflicting normative dimensions of justification: the Gulf War, Brendan Howe; Just war and the perspective of ethics of care, Rob van den Toorn; Index.

    Biography

    Paul Robinson is a Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Hull

    'Conflicts around the world boldly tell us that issues within military ethics are heavily dependent on national, cultural and religious conditions. 'Just War in Comparative Perspective' is an admirably broad and well-informed collection of case-studies about this comparative matter. For people, both civilian and military, who want to acquire insight into...the diversity of normative thinking about war and warfare, this book definitely turns out to be a major source.' Major Dr. Bård Mæland, Editor of Journal of Military Ethics 'No one who seriously wishes to understand the terrorist campaigns of Islamic fundamentalists or the atrocities of ethnic conflict in the former Soviet Union, the sub-continent and Africa, or who wonders what the right response should be, can fail to profit from this book.' Professor Paul Gilbert, University of Hull, UK