HOW RELEVANT IS THE JUST WAR DOCTRINE IN THIS MODERN AGE?
Introduction
1. War needs no documentation to prove its horror. It destroys and ruins lives beyond imagination, makes normal existence impossible, imposes immense burden on economy and imperils the freedom of people. It is a great curse to human being and society. Surprisingly wars are called Just Wars. Because, the theory indicates moral qualification for a war, which must have a just cause, a just authority, has right intention and used as a last resort. Just war can be waged against a state if that state has inflicted harm upon another state. So it is legal to wage just war to repel unwarranted attacks and punish the defaulter states of wrong doing.
2. However, not a settled issue, Just War Doctrine kept the international system functional but demands critical evaluation. Two basic criteria can judge any theory; first, it’s explanatory powers to account for any developments within its field in the real world, second the theory’s internal fertility, the ability to refine and expand itself to cover the range of phenomena that fall within its theoretical grip.’[1] If ‘Just war doctrine’ was formulated to make the world reasonably peaceful then it has not met the first criteria. Since 1970 world has experienced 30-40 wars annually and after 1990 there were 12 wars in 15 years and about 1,950,000 people were dead from 1997[2]. The world is confronted with an active phase of military interventions many of which are controversial making the world potentially dangerous.[3] The doctrine fails in its internal fertility test as it can not handle use of nuclear weapons (questions its proportionality) and manifests (from legal point of view) its impotency to address the non-state actors like Al Qaeda terrorists.
3. If the world needs to be made safer, there is a need to confront these evils wherever they appear. But, Article 2 (1), (4) and (7) of UN Charter clearly prohibits prosecution of war against any state.... [continues]
Introduction
1. War needs no documentation to prove its horror. It destroys and ruins lives beyond imagination, makes normal existence impossible, imposes immense burden on economy and imperils the freedom of people. It is a great curse to human being and society. Surprisingly wars are called Just Wars. Because, the theory indicates moral qualification for a war, which must have a just cause, a just authority, has right intention and used as a last resort. Just war can be waged against a state if that state has inflicted harm upon another state. So it is legal to wage just war to repel unwarranted attacks and punish the defaulter states of wrong doing.
2. However, not a settled issue, Just War Doctrine kept the international system functional but demands critical evaluation. Two basic criteria can judge any theory; first, it’s explanatory powers to account for any developments within its field in the real world, second the theory’s internal fertility, the ability to refine and expand itself to cover the range of phenomena that fall within its theoretical grip.’[1] If ‘Just war doctrine’ was formulated to make the world reasonably peaceful then it has not met the first criteria. Since 1970 world has experienced 30-40 wars annually and after 1990 there were 12 wars in 15 years and about 1,950,000 people were dead from 1997[2]. The world is confronted with an active phase of military interventions many of which are controversial making the world potentially dangerous.[3] The doctrine fails in its internal fertility test as it can not handle use of nuclear weapons (questions its proportionality) and manifests (from legal point of view) its impotency to address the non-state actors like Al Qaeda terrorists.
3. If the world needs to be made safer, there is a need to confront these evils wherever they appear. But, Article 2 (1), (4) and (7) of UN Charter clearly prohibits prosecution of war against any state.... [continues]
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