Resources on Just War Theory
USD Values Institute Forum on
Just War and the Balkans

Classic Texts

• St. Augustine, The City of God, Book XIX  
• St. Thomas Aquinas, "On War"

Anthologies and Texts

• Jean Bethke Elshtain, ed. Just War Theory.  Washington Square, New York: New York University Press
• Douglas Lackey,  The Ethics of War and Peace (Prentice-Hall) Includes chapters on:
  • 1. Introduction: International Ethics and the Challenge of Realism.
    2. Pacifism.
    3. Just War Theory I: When to Fight.
    4. Just War Theory II: How to Fight.
    5. Nuclear War and Nuclear Deterrence.

Books and Articles

• Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars.  A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations.   Second Edition.  Basic Books, 1992.  A superb book, originally published in 1977, which has set the stage for the discussion of just war theory for the past two decades.  It contains a wealth of historical examples as well as theoretical insights.

• Paul Ramsey, The Just War: Force and Political Responsibility. New York: Scribner's, 1968).

• James E Childress, "Just-War Theories," Theological Studies, 1978, pp. 427-445.

• Kenneth W. Kemp, "Just-War Theory: A Reconceptualization," Public Affairs Quarterly, Volume 2, Number 2, April 1988 pp. 57-74.

Web Resources

• Alex Moseley, "Just War Theory," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

• Vincent Ferraro, "Principles of the Just War"

• Overview of Just War Theory, including bibliography on Somalia

• "Just War After the Cold War," American Purpose, Spring, 1996, Vo. 10. No. 1. In mid-January, the Ethics and Public Policy Center hosted the first in a series of scholars' conferences intended to refine contemporary just war thinking by engaging some of the key dynamics of post-Cold War international life. This first conference included an assessment of the new empirical situation faced by just war theorists (A. J. Bacevich), a reconsideration of the content and moral trajectory of the "just cause" criterion (James Turner Johnson), a reconnaissance of the "humanitarian intervention" debate (John Langan, S.J.), and an exploration of the current status of the "competent authority" criterion, with specific reference to the crisis in Bosnia (Eugene V. Rostow). Excerpts from the conference papers are contained on this site, along with examples of the conversation the papers generated.

• Stephen Palmquist, Biblical Theocracy  Appendix B War, Violence, and the State.   There are three interrelated topics worth pursuing in slightly more detail: the theocratic alternative to the "just war" debate; the limitations placed on pacifism and nonviolence by the way wars are portrayed in the Bible; and the irrationality of the typical argument used to legitimize the state and/or other political institutions.

• Catholic Documents: CARRIE An Electronic LIbrary Catholic Church

• Mark and Louise Zwick, "Dorothy Day, Prophet of Pacifism for the Catholic Church"

• ETHICS: A Selected Bibliography .September 1997. Compiled by Virginia C. Shope.  U.S. Army War College Library.   Ethics: A Selected Bibliography, now in its fourth revised edition, was compiled to support the study of ethics, one of the enduring curricular themes at the U.S. Army War College. Like our earlier ethics bibliographies, this list covers some of the fundamentals of moral philosophy, as well as a broad range of contemporary ethical issues, and includes a bibliography on just war theory.

• Robert McAfee Brown's criteria for a just war

• David J. Bederman, "RECEPTION OF THE CLASSICAL TRADITION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: GROTIUS' De Jure Belli ac Pacis"

• Just War Theory and the Faith of Unitarian Universalism

• PEACEKEEPING CITATION LIST: Center for Defense Information Number 84

• "Steadfast with a Smile" A conversation with Daniel Berrigan by Jim Wallis

• "Just-War Theory & its Non-pacifist Rivals" Kenneth W. Kemp Department of Philosophy University of St. Thomas

• "JUST WAR THEORY AND THE RECENT U.S. AIR STRIKES AGAINST IRAQ ," Mark Edward DeForest, Gonzaga University

• Just War Theory, Michael Markowski, Westminster College

• Just War Theory and the Catholic Church

• James F. Childress, "Moral Discourse about War in the Early Church "  (abstract), Journal of Religious Ethics.

• No Just War in the Fathers

• Christian Documents on Peace

• The Gulf War and just war theory

• Nicholas G. Fotion, The Gulf War Cleanly fought..  Bulletin of American Scientists

• The Gulf War Just or Unjust

• War, Violence and the Christian Conscience, dedicated to Fr. Charles Curran

• Warfighting Literature, includes Aquinas and many others

General Resources on the War in the Balkans

• See the New York Times site on the Kosova crisis
  • Also see its excellent list of web resources
• Amnesty International, AI Report 1997: Somalia. Amnesty International Publications, New York: 1997. 
  • A powerful document, with photographic documentaton

Resources on Just War Theory
USD Values Institute Forum on
Just War and the Balkans

Classic Texts

• St. Augustine, The City of God, Book XIX  
• St. Thomas Aquinas, "On War"

Anthologies and Texts

• Jean Bethke Elshtain, ed. Just War Theory.  Washington Square, New York: New York University Press
• Douglas Lackey,  The Ethics of War and Peace (Prentice-Hall) Includes chapters on:
  • 1. Introduction: International Ethics and the Challenge of Realism.
    2. Pacifism.
    3. Just War Theory I: When to Fight.
    4. Just War Theory II: How to Fight.
    5. Nuclear War and Nuclear Deterrence.

Books and Articles

• Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars.  A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations.   Second Edition.  Basic Books, 1992.  A superb book, originally published in 1977, which has set the stage for the discussion of just war theory for the past two decades.  It contains a wealth of historical examples as well as theoretical insights.

• Paul Ramsey, The Just War: Force and Political Responsibility. New York: Scribner's, 1968).

• James E Childress, "Just-War Theories," Theological Studies, 1978, pp. 427-445.

• Kenneth W. Kemp, "Just-War Theory: A Reconceptualization," Public Affairs Quarterly, Volume 2, Number 2, April 1988 pp. 57-74.

Web Resources

• Alex Moseley, "Just War Theory," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

• Vincent Ferraro, "Principles of the Just War"

• Overview of Just War Theory, including bibliography on Somalia

• "Just War After the Cold War," American Purpose, Spring, 1996, Vo. 10. No. 1. In mid-January, the Ethics and Public Policy Center hosted the first in a series of scholars' conferences intended to refine contemporary just war thinking by engaging some of the key dynamics of post-Cold War international life. This first conference included an assessment of the new empirical situation faced by just war theorists (A. J. Bacevich), a reconsideration of the content and moral trajectory of the "just cause" criterion (James Turner Johnson), a reconnaissance of the "humanitarian intervention" debate (John Langan, S.J.), and an exploration of the current status of the "competent authority" criterion, with specific reference to the crisis in Bosnia (Eugene V. Rostow). Excerpts from the conference papers are contained on this site, along with examples of the conversation the papers generated.

• Stephen Palmquist, Biblical Theocracy  Appendix B War, Violence, and the State.   There are three interrelated topics worth pursuing in slightly more detail: the theocratic alternative to the "just war" debate; the limitations placed on pacifism and nonviolence by the way wars are portrayed in the Bible; and the irrationality of the typical argument used to legitimize the state and/or other political institutions.

• Catholic Documents: CARRIE An Electronic LIbrary Catholic Church

• Mark and Louise Zwick, "Dorothy Day, Prophet of Pacifism for the Catholic Church"

• ETHICS: A Selected Bibliography .September 1997. Compiled by Virginia C. Shope.  U.S. Army War College Library.   Ethics: A Selected Bibliography, now in its fourth revised edition, was compiled to support the study of ethics, one of the enduring curricular themes at the U.S. Army War College. Like our earlier ethics bibliographies, this list covers some of the fundamentals of moral philosophy, as well as a broad range of contemporary ethical issues, and includes a bibliography on just war theory.

• Robert McAfee Brown's criteria for a just war

• David J. Bederman, "RECEPTION OF THE CLASSICAL TRADITION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: GROTIUS' De Jure Belli ac Pacis"

• Just War Theory and the Faith of Unitarian Universalism

• PEACEKEEPING CITATION LIST: Center for Defense Information Number 84

• "Steadfast with a Smile" A conversation with Daniel Berrigan by Jim Wallis

• "Just-War Theory & its Non-pacifist Rivals" Kenneth W. Kemp Department of Philosophy University of St. Thomas

• "JUST WAR THEORY AND THE RECENT U.S. AIR STRIKES AGAINST IRAQ ," Mark Edward DeForest, Gonzaga University

• Just War Theory, Michael Markowski, Westminster College

• Just War Theory and the Catholic Church

• James F. Childress, "Moral Discourse about War in the Early Church "  (abstract), Journal of Religious Ethics.

• No Just War in the Fathers

• Christian Documents on Peace

• The Gulf War and just war theory

• Nicholas G. Fotion, The Gulf War Cleanly fought..  Bulletin of American Scientists

• The Gulf War Just or Unjust

• War, Violence and the Christian Conscience, dedicated to Fr. Charles Curran

• Warfighting Literature, includes Aquinas and many others

General Resources on the War in the Balkans

• See the New York Times site on the Kosova crisis
  • Also see its excellent list of web resources
• Amnesty International, AI Report 1997: Somalia. Amnesty International Publications, New York: 1997. 
  • A powerful document, with photographic documentaton