Ethics Beyond War's End

Eric Patterson

2012

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have focused new attention on a perennial problem: how to end wars well. What ethical considerations should guide war's settlement and its aftermath? In cases of protracted conflicts, recurring war, failed or failing states, or genocide and war crimes, is there a framework for establishing an enduring peace that is pragmatic and moral?

Just war thinking engages the difficult decisions of going to war and how war is fought. Just war theory must also take into account what happens after war ends, and the critical issues that follow: establishing an enduring order, employing political forms of justice, and cultivating collective forms of conciliation. Top thinkers in the field offer powerful contributions to our understanding of the vital issues associated with late- and post-conflict in tough, real-world, scenarios that range from the US Civil War to Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Congo.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Ethics Beyond War's End – Eric Patterson, Georgetown University
1. Moral Responsibility after Conflict: The Idea of Jus Post Bellum for the 21st Century – James Turner Johnson, Rutgers University
2. The Aftermath of War: Reflections on Jus Post Bellum – Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study
3. Jus ante and post bellum: Completing the Circle, Breaking the Cycle – George R. Lucas Jr., U.S. Naval Academy
4. In My Beginning is My End – Robert Royal, Faith and Reason Institute
5. A More Perfect Peace: Jus Post Bellum and the Quest for Stable Peace – Robert E. Williams Jr., Pepperdine University
6. Ethics in the Times of War – Pauletta Otis, Marine Corps University
7. Just War and an Ethics of Responsibility – Jean Bethke Elshtain, The University of Chicago
8. Ending the US Civil War Well: Reconciliation and Transitional Justice – David A. Crocker, University of Maryland
9. Justice After War: Towards a New Geneva Convention – Brian Orend, University of Waterloo, Canada
10. "Just Peace:" An Elusive Ideal – Mark Evans, Swansea University
Conclusion: Toward a 21st Century Jus Post Bellum – Eric Patterson, Georgetown University

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