Just War Against Terror: The Burden Of American Power In A Violent World Reprint Edition

by Jean Bethke Elshtain (Author)

19 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0465019113

ISBN-10: 0465019110

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Jean Bethke Elshtain advocates "just war" in times of crisis and mounts a reasoned attack against the anti-war contingent in American intellectual life. Advocating an ethic of responsibility, Elshtain forces us to ask tough questions not only about the nature of terrorism, but about ourselves. This paperback edition features a new introduction by the author, addressing the Iraq war and other events in the Middle East.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating introduction to the arguments that have informed thousands of years of just-war scholarship."

About the Author

Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Just War Against Terror and Democracy on Trial, among other books. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee and Chicago, Illinois.

Product details

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (August 4, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465019110
ISBN-13: 978-0465019113
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 5.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 19 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #967 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Law Enforcement
- #988 in Books > Law > Criminal Law > Law Enforcement
- #1202 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Terrorism

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Deciding for War

March 14, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Professor Elshtain reviews the historical development of Just War theory, with an emphasis on its origins in Christian philosophy and by authors such as Augustine in the fifth century, though it doesn’t rely critically on specifically Christian theology. She then applies the principles to the current fight against Islamic terrorism and more organized aggression. She doesn't attempt to catalog all the theories that supposedly justify war in other cultures. This is a guide for decision makers in modern Western countries.

There isn’t a simple unambiguous checklist of criteria for a just war, but several themes woven together are sufficient for at least a primary evaluation. Some of course depend on terms whose definitions could fill volumes. (I apologize to professional philosophers for my incomplete and possibly inaccurate characterizations. This review is my personal impression of the subject, informed by Elshtain.)

The fundamental principle is that a war can be just only if its purpose is to return to or re-establish a condition of civil peace in which imperfect humans can go about their daily lives in a reasonable measure of liberty and freedom from fear. Providing such an environment is seen as the minimal raison d’être of governments, and if they fail this, they are not legitimate. Under this umbrella lies a more detailed set of conditions.

A just war can only be waged by a legitimate government, not by individuals or independent bands. (I assume this condition could be satisfied by an organized army having wide support conducting a civil war or revolution against an unjust government.)

It must be in response to an act of aggression or the realistic threat of such. This would preclude war simply in furtherance of a political or religious principle.

It must be openly declared.

It must begin with the right intention, which is to attain a more just, peaceful world. It can’t be for conquest or revenge. Notice that justice and peace are coequal. Neither is absolute or trumps the other.

It must be a last resort. Not that all other resorts must be tried, but that they must be carefully considered as to practicality and expectation of success.

There is a corresponding set of conditions for conducting a just war, such as avoiding purposeful attacks on non-combatants and clearly identifying soldiers.

In considering the justice of war and peace it’s essential to get the language right, that is, to call things by their right or accurate names. If a thousand peaceful civilians are killed, it must be called the killing of a thousand peaceful civilians, not “striking a blow for a cause”. A martyr is one who dies at the hands of a tyrant while publicly professing his conscience, not someone who disguises himself and blows himself up while killing a busload of shoppers. The “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” was not.

Elshtain was a signatory, along with 60 other leading American intellectuals, of A Letter from America in February 2002 setting out the basis for our response to the attacks of 9/11/2001. It’s reproduced in the book, and can be found at [...]. This applies just war principles to a specific situation and is a good summary.

I’m sure there are more exhaustive treatises on just war theory, but this little book is sufficient for me. I recommend it.

Comment

Over a decade old, but still relevant.

January 4, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

At first, I'd felt as though I'd made a mistake by choosing to read this book. It was written in the summer of 2002. A significant number of events have occurred since that time which have caused us to look inward regarding our nation's response to the "war on terror." Ultimately, I believe this book is still plenty relevant. The author focuses on the ethics and moral principles of the Judeo-Christian traditions of western civilization in the context of the war on terror. The author also goes to some length to dismantle counter arguments offered by some. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in "just war" and for all policy makers.

Comment

A scholarly work great importance.

February 21, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a thoughtful and well-reasoned journey through the ethical basis for the use of force. Peace-at-any-price ideologues will hate it, but civilization would perish unless we fight to protect our most fundamental values. I loved this book.

Comment

Reliable and Mature look into Just War Theory & the positive responsibility of America.

January 25, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A theological, as much as political, treatise on Just War theory and practice. This is Elshtain at her best. Unpacking relevant information and engaging in the conversation for-our-time, that The West must have, and continue to debate.

Comment

January 30, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Covered the topic very well and was written by an author that is not an ultra liberal. Enjoyed! Recommend highly!

Comment

September 30, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

....the title could scare you away, but it is such an easy and fast book to read.....very appropriate in light of our government's "decisive lack of action" in Syria.......

Comment

Everything went as expected

October 9, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Everything went as expected. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen

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Amazon Customer

Whose War, Whose Terror

May 2, 2003

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Just War Against Terror by Jean Bethke Elshtain is a feeble attempt to justify the Bush administration's policies. She follows Augustine from the City of God in her just war arguments. The City of God was written to point us to a higher City not to serve as an apology for the City of Rome or the City of Washington DC. Augustine wrote the City of God to defend Christianity against the accusation that it was the cause of Rome's downfall. Augustine could not have conceived of modern warfare where one country like the U.S. has incredible asymetrical power over its hapless enemies.
Elshtain stretches the distinction between combatants and noncombatants to cover situations in war no longer applicable in the real world of modern weapons and modern warfare. What is the morality of fighting a force such as the Iraqi army made up mostly of conscripts who face a bullet in the back from Husseins forces or obliteration from the air by bombs from the United States? How are these human beings to be classified ? Combatants or noncombatants ? Doesn't the use of precision bombing actually make it worse for these human being ? Is slaughter a legitimate means of fighting war.

Elshtain also praises and accepts everything Bush and the Pentagon say as honest and noble. There is absolutely no consideration for the military, economic, and social conditions in the world except to say that nothing ever justifies terrorism. She moves from Camus, Augustine, and Arendt to Cluaswitz. She accepts the latter's idea that war is the continuation of diplomacy and politics by other means. Terrorists have no politics except to destroy and that is what makes it evil per se.

Elshtain says that both pacifism and realpolitics are wrong. What is needed is the way of Just War theory. I think her vision of the world is like watching children playing in a sandbox. Some children are acting like bullies. It is so easy to distinguish the good kids from the bad ones. If the world were as simple as Elshtain sees it there would be no need for theories. All that is needed would be an adult to get the bullies out of the sandbox.

What Elshtain lacks is a vision to evaluate war with a "whole new attitude", called for by the American Bishops in their 1983 document, The Challenge To Peace." This is the real burden we all need to shoulder,--- not the "Burden of American Power In A Violent World, embolden on the cover of her book Just War Against Terror. American power is part of the problem not part of the solution to a just and peaceful world.

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