Significance of Ethical Issues for International Relations in the Middle East
Through Focussing On A Specific International Issue, Explain How Ethical Issues Are Significant For International Relations In The Middle East
The Arab Israeli conflict is “one of the most bitter, protracted and intractable conflicts of modern times” (Atack, 2005), being a dominant theme of IR in the Middle East it posses a range of core principal levels that contain ethical issues used as reasons to justify positions from both sides of the conflict. The conflict in essence is a clash “Between Jewish and Palestinians national movements over the land of Palestine” (Fawcett, 2005) the searches for settlement is complicated by inter Arab relations, Western Nations, and more recently inter Palestinian fragmentation. The issue of Hamas being an illegal terrorist entity has been a source failure for many peace initiatives as well as a reason for escalation to the use of force within that conflict ever since they formed in 1989. With “Israel, the EU, the US and their allies” (Akhtar, 2008) deeming Hamas as a terrorist entity what this essay will attempt to analyse is; can Hamas’s position be justified by using the principles of the ‘Just war theory’, the essay will analyse the first section of the theory concerned with justice in going to war, and see whether Hamas as a non state actor can satisfy its criterion and what effects it has on international relations on a global stage.
The just war theory is not a single theory but rather a tradition within which contains a range of interpretation. Its origins and principles originate “with classical Greek philosophers like Plato and Cicero and were added to by Christian theologians like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas” (Un-authored 1, 2009), while the latter two theologians had developed the theory within the framework of the church for a Christianised Roman Empire, the theory itself is in essence multi cultural, multi national and developed over long history. Plato, Cicero and Aristotle wrote about “the moral issues facing
The Arab Israeli conflict is “one of the most bitter, protracted and intractable conflicts of modern times” (Atack, 2005), being a dominant theme of IR in the Middle East it posses a range of core principal levels that contain ethical issues used as reasons to justify positions from both sides of the conflict. The conflict in essence is a clash “Between Jewish and Palestinians national movements over the land of Palestine” (Fawcett, 2005) the searches for settlement is complicated by inter Arab relations, Western Nations, and more recently inter Palestinian fragmentation. The issue of Hamas being an illegal terrorist entity has been a source failure for many peace initiatives as well as a reason for escalation to the use of force within that conflict ever since they formed in 1989. With “Israel, the EU, the US and their allies” (Akhtar, 2008) deeming Hamas as a terrorist entity what this essay will attempt to analyse is; can Hamas’s position be justified by using the principles of the ‘Just war theory’, the essay will analyse the first section of the theory concerned with justice in going to war, and see whether Hamas as a non state actor can satisfy its criterion and what effects it has on international relations on a global stage.
The just war theory is not a single theory but rather a tradition within which contains a range of interpretation. Its origins and principles originate “with classical Greek philosophers like Plato and Cicero and were added to by Christian theologians like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas” (Un-authored 1, 2009), while the latter two theologians had developed the theory within the framework of the church for a Christianised Roman Empire, the theory itself is in essence multi cultural, multi national and developed over long history. Plato, Cicero and Aristotle wrote about “the moral issues facing
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