Overview

A moral compass for the use of limited force that draws on the just war thought of Thomas Aquinas One of the most contentious developments in contemporary international relations has been the increased use of limited force. On the one hand, insofar as it signals greater constraint, the shift away from the mechanized slaughter of large-scale warfare toward more calibrated applications of force may be hailed as a step in the right direction. On the other, because uses of limited force appear more compartmentalized and therefore containable, it may encourage states’ more frequent recourse to arms. How, then, are we to make moral sense of this shift toward the small-scale use of force? When are these operations morally justifiable? Limited Force and the Fight for the Just War Tradition offers a moral compass for just war theorists and extends the limited scholarship on jus ad vim (the just use of limited force). Based on a historical approach to just war and case studies, this book provides practical arguments on the question of how the practice of targeted killing and punitive airstrikes should be regulated in order to be morally defensible. Drawing from a historical reading of the just war thought of Thomas Aquinas, Braun demonstrates how classical just war thinking not only helps us grapple with the moral questions of limited force but can also make an important third-way contribution to a field of study that has been engaged in a metaphorical fight about the just war tradition.

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9781647123444

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Reviews

Exceptionally well organized and presented, Limited Force and the Fight for the Just War Tradition is an impressively timely contribution to our ongoing national discussion with respect to America's use of limited and targeted military force in several theaters of war currently engaged in around the world. * Midwest Book Review *

Exceptionally well organized and presented, Limited Force and the Fight for the Just War Tradition is an impressively timely contribution to our ongoing national discussion with respect to America's use of limited and targeted military force in several theaters of war currently engaged in around the world. * Midwest Book Review * Braun's work is useful for those delving into the intricacies of just war theory as it has manifested in the Catholic Church, and how that differs from Walzer's influential approach in recent decades. * Aether-Asor * Braun's work is a valuable contribution to the realms of national security and military ethics.... It is highly recommended for security studies scholars and for leaders—both military and civilian—involved in making decisions on when and how to employ military power. * Proceedings *

Author Information

Christian Nikolaus Braun is a lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. He was formerly a Radboud Excellence Initiative Fellow at Radboud University. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including Ethics & International Affairs, Global Studies Quarterly, International Relations, and International Theory.

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