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Can war ever be just? By what right do we charge people with war crimes? Can war itself be a crime? What is a good peace treaty? Since the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, many wars have erupted, inflaming such areas as the Persian Gulf, Central Africa and Central Europe. Brutalities committed during these conflicts have sparked new interest in the ethics of war and peace. Brian Orend explores the ethics of war and peace from a Kantian perspective, emphasizing human rights protection, the rule of international law and a fully global concept of justice. Contending that Kant’s just war doctrine has not been given its due, Orend displays Kant’s theory to its fullest, impressive effect. He then completely and clearly updates Kant’s perspective for application to our time. Along the way, he criticizes pacifism and realism, explores the nature of human rights protection during wartime, and defends a theory of just war. He also looks ahead to future developments in global institutional reform using cases from the Persian Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda to illustrate his argument. Controversial and timely, perhaps the most important contribution War and International Justice: A Kantian Perspective makes is with regard to the question of justice after war. Orend offers a principled theory of war termination, making an urgent plea to reform current international law.
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War and International Justice a Kantian Perspective Brian Orend Wilfrid_Laurier_U.GIF
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This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Orend, Brian, 1971War and international justice : a Kantian perspective Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88920-337-7 (bound) 1. War—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Just war doctrine. 3. Kant, Immanuel, 1724 1804—Contributions in just war doctrine. I. Title. U22.O73 2000
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Copyright © 2000 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5 Cover design by Leslie Macredie. Cover photo by Kurt Lange. The author and publisher wish to acknowledge the following journals in which material from this book, in revised format, has appeared or is forthcoming: Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence for "Kant on International Law and Armed Conflict" (July 1998) and "Terminating War and Establishing Global Governance" (July 1999); Dialogue for "Evaluating Pacifism" (forthcoming, 2001); Journal of the History of Philosophy for "Kant's Just War Theory'' (April 1999); Journal of Philosophical Research for "A Just War Critique of Realism and Pacifism" (forthcoming, winter 2000); Journal of Social Philosophy for "Jus Post Bellum" (forthcoming, spring 2000).
Printed in Canada All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping, or reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6.
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