Philosophers think about the justification of war

"No Country Can Democratise Another" by Benjamin Barber
"By forgetting its own history, America risks turning those who might have been friends of democracy in Iraq into enemies."

"The Ethics of Retaliation" by Judith Lichtenberg
Reexamines the ethics of retaliatory military actions, including discussion of the justice of retribution and elements of just war theory, especially non-combatant immunity.

"Terrorism, Innocence, and War" by Robert K. Fullinwider
An investigation into the standard of innocence and its metamorphosis in the wake of the attacks on the WTC on Sept. 11th.

"The War on Terrorism and the End of Human Rights" by David Luban
A look at the hybrid war-law approach the U.S, has taken in prosecuting terrorists. The al Qaeda suspects held at Guantanamo Bay exist in what he calls "a limbo of rightlessness," respected as POW's would be under the Geneva Conventions, but with no right to such treatment.

"The Paradox of Riskless Warfare" by Paul Kahn

"The Perils of Preemptive War" by William Galston
Galston argues that "preemptive action" against Iraq, advocated by the Bush administration, is insupportable on prudential grounds, and that preemptive war also creates new rules of international engagement without the consent of other nations and rejects crucial elements of just war theory."

Preventive War by David Luban
A preventive war is a preemptive war in which the requirement of an imminent threat is relaxed. The present paper examines the justifiability of preventive war. First, it lays out the prevailing doctrine of just war and explains why preventive war does not fit comfortably within it. It then discusses the justification of the prevailing doctrine, first by examining Michael Walzer's rights-based justification for it, which it rejects, then by offering a broadly consequentialist justification, very close to the thinking of the U.N.'s founders. The most important point emerging from these arguments is that the real justification for the prevailing doctrine lies in the importance of a no-first-use-of-force rule for war prevention, not in the importance of protecting state sovereignty. The paper then turns to the question whether a general doctrine permitting preventive war to forestall immature threats is morally defensible, and answers no, arguing that giving a green light to preventive war would make wars too frequent and too routine. However, a more restricted form of the doctrine, which permits preventive war against serious threats posed by rogue states, is sound under certain conditions.

The paper turns to the question of whether, given the incredible disparity in power between the United States and other nations, it makes sense any longer to ask about appropriate "general doctrines" of just war. Should we continue to think of just war theory as a collection of rules or principles that apply to all states, or is this legalistic model of political morality inapplicable in the dramatically altered political constellation we inhabit? Some prominent theorists and policymakers argue that in the current era a double standard is appropriate, in which the United States is not bound by rules of general applicability across all states. The U.S. gets to do things, like launch preventive wars or insist on its own military pre-eminence, that other states do not get to do. The paper concludes that to date proponents' claims that a Pax Americana would be generally beneficial have little to support them.

"Unjust War" by Jeff McMahan
This paper argues that certain central tenets of the traditional theory of the just war cannot be correct. It then advances an alternative account grounded in the same considerations of justice that justify self-defense at the individual level. The implications of this account are unorthodox, even heretical. It implies that, with few exceptions, soldiers who fight without a just cause act impermissibly when they attack enemy soldiers, and that soldiers who fight in a just war may, in certain circumstances, legitimately target noncombatants who bear a significant degree of moral responsibility for the grievance that provides the just cause for war.

"War as Self-Defense" by Jeff McMahan
Ethics & International Affairs, Winter 2004

"Terrorism, Global Journalism, and the Myth of the Nation-State" by Deni Elliott
Essentially, a political perspective on objective standards in journalism. The media is a global entity that is able to transcend national borders. It has responsibilities to provide neutral information so that citizens will be sufficiently educated necessary to govern themselves.

"Moral Clarity in a Time of War" by George Weigel
"Defining the boundaries of unilateral action while defending its legitimacy under certain circumstances is one crucial task for a developing just war tradition.”

"War" by Brian Orend (Stanford Encyclopedia)
Contains a good bibliography.

"Brief Overview of Just War Theory" by Vincent Ferraro
Plus links to other relevant sources.

The Ethics of War, Peace, & Terrorism (from Ethics Updates)
A wide-ranging source of articles, lectures, and other resources by philosophers, military officers, and others.

Philosophers Speak Out About War, Terrorism, and Peace
A source for various writings since September 11.

Weblog entries by Peter Levine on the war and democratic theory (with some comments on coverage).