Title: Just
and Unjust Wars
Author:
Michael Walzer
Publisher:
Basic Books
Pages:
361
Content:
What constitutes a just war? What are the moral imperatives that define a
soldiers actions when faced with situations far outside of those experienced by
society at large? Has the nature of war changed such that it no longer holds
boundaries within which combatants engage? What war does may be defined very
simply: it kills. The rules surrounding how and when have become almost the
exclusive realm of the international lawyer. Walzers book takes a step back
from the legalistic and looks at war from the perspective of moral dilemmas that fallible soldiers have
actually faced. Utilizing historical illustrations running from warfare in Athens to the My Lai
Massacre, he analyses the questions of end versus means in the decisions that
people have made in time of battle and war.
An uncomfortable subject but one that speaks to the heart of the
challenge faced by the soldier in times of conflict: is justice or winning the
end goal.
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