Product Description

When is the use of military force by a nation morally justified? How can the tendency toward unrestrained warfare between parties with major cultural differences be controlled? In this timely book, James Turner Johnson refocuses the moral analysis of war on the real problems of contemporary armed conflicts and analyses the specific problems posed by warfare today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #810389 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"In his latest book, James Turner Johnson, one of the great American exponents of the just-war approach, demonstrates its values by applying it with sustained rigour to the conflicts of the past decade, starting with the 1991 Gulf War. Johnson's analysis exudes wisdom." Lawrence Freedman, Times Literary Supplement "This is a very good book on an important topic." J. Bryan Hehir, Commonweal "Johnson here provides us with a timely attempt to apply traditional just war principles to a new breed of post-nuclear warfare... Johnson does a nice job of guiding the reader through the moral intricacies of just war theory... Johnson's book provides us with an example of how a very old moral tradition is still able to handle contemporary moral problems." Virginia Quarterly Review "To those caught between uncritical pacifism and equally uncritical interventionism, Johnson provides an invaluable perspective and sense of balance." Martin L. Cook, Christian Century

Virginia Quarterly Review
"Johnson does a nice job of guiding the reader through the moral intricacies of just war theory.

Lawrence Freedman, Times Literary Supplement
"Johnson['s analysis] exudes wisdom."

Customer Reviews

Interesting perspective on a relevant subject.
To some, the title of this book - Morality and Contemporary Warfare - may seem as much an oxymoron as its subject matter - just war theory. Well, James T. Johnson is out to convince you that your wrong. Somewhere exactly in between hard-line interventionism and soft-line pacifism lies the cool, tempered and thoughtful (if still imperfect) moral approach of just war theory.

According to just war theory, there are seven moral imperatives to be cognizant of before any war can be justified: a just cause, appropriate intent, response is proportioned to the stimulus, their must exist a reasonable hope for success, peace must be the end goal, only those authorized to declare war do, every other option has been exhausted or is infeasible. Similarly, if a nation or alliance decides to go to war, there are two rules, according to just war theory, for combat: first, one must do as little damage to noncombatants as possible, and second, the use of force has to be no greater than is necessary.

Using these guidelines, Johnson takes just war theory (a concet that's been in discussion since Grotius) and applies it to contemporary (1997) situations. He reviews how international law has adopted the just war theory and how the church has embraced it (even as they embraced pacifism, they used its principles as a fall-back plan).

The advantage of a book like this is that a.) Johnson is comprehensive in his theoretical discussions and links them to concrete events (Somalia, Iraqi guif war, American civil war). The second advantage is that as it was written in '97, the book is calmer in tone than those written post-Sept. 11th, particularly in his informative and clear-headed discussion of the differences (but not incommensurability) between Western and Islamic culture.

The disadvantages are two: First, Johnson tends to wander into lengthy digressions in his chapters, so much so that occasionally, I found myself wondering if he'd come back to his original argument. He always did but it left me wondering without the digressions, if the book would've been 140 instead of 227 pages. Second, Johnson is not a good writer. His dull prose meant combined with unpredicted digressions left me wandering my mind a bit, so that I would end up reading the same page three times, each time noticing another better way to work the thought he expressed.

All in all, it is a good book that brings up to date a theory of just wars that was last seriously broached by Micheal Walzer in 1977 (in a classic called "Just and Unjust Wars". The dryness and unpredictability of the text, though, keep this from a four or five star ranking.

Solid book, but too reliant
Johnson does an excellent book introducing the reader to the development of just war theory. His arguments are clear, well structured, and logical. I highly recommend this book for theorists and policymakers (especially) as a strong introduction into the field of just war thinking and all of its real-world incarnations (e.g., humanitarian intervention, civil wars, international humanitarian law, and peace-building/enforcing).

The only criticism I have is that it is too reliant on only a few sources. Johnson builds almost all of his arguments around Michael Waltzer's "Just and Unjust Wars" and Chirstian thought. If we are to come to a global political consensus on the laws of war, including what a "crime against humanity" is, we need to come to a moral consensus. That moral consensus, as Johnson does admit, will only come through a further understanding of non-Christian thought on the subject.

All in all, it's a strong book and definitely worth reading.

Gaining perspective
Johnson does an outsatnding job in looking at the developement of Just War Theory. Particularly helpful is his noting the recent development of the pacifist presumption which is new developement in modern academic thought. The book goes a long way in bringing the Just War Theory out of its current misuse by both the pacifists and national leaders. I highly recommend this book.