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Justice after War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Brian Orend
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Extract

Sadly, there are few restraints on the endings of wars. There has never been an international treaty to regulate war's final phase, and there are sharp disagreements regarding the nature of a just peace treaty. There are, by contrast, restraints aplenty on starting wars, and on conduct during war. These restraints include: political pressure from allies and enemies; the logistics of raising and deploying force; the United Nations, its Charter and Security Council; and international laws like the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Indeed, in just war theory—which frames moral principles to regulate wartime actions—there is a robust set of rules for resorting to war (jus ad bellum) and for conduct during war (jus in bello) but not for the termination phase of war.

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Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2002, pp. 43 - 56
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Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 2002

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References

1 On just war theory in general, see Walzer, Michael, Just and Unjust Wars, 3rd ed. (New York: Basic Books, 2000Google Scholar); and Orend, Brian, Walzer, Michaelon War and Justice (Cardiff: University of Wales, 2000Google Scholar).

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