Just War Theory

Just America or Just in War? Throughout the decades, history has recorded all the wars in which the United States has participated in. Some may consider that the United States’ participation in foreign affairs may have been cruel, or unnecessary; while in other cases, others find it essential for the United States to fight for the common good. Therefore, philosophers—in the pursuit of justice—have designed methods that dictate how a nation can justly engage into a war, one of this methods being the Just War theory. The Just War theory, invented by Saint Augustine around the 4th century, allows to determine when to initiate a war and the level of violence that is justified (Maiese, 2003). The United States participation in the Korean, Vietnam,

The Korean War emerged after the Soviet Union intended to spread Communism around the world; it began with China, following to North Korea, intending to reach the South area. Communism represented a threat to the United States since the latter “prized the concepts of personal liberty and freedom of political organization” (Staff, 2010), while the former aimed a society that followed Karl Marx’s motto: from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. During the Red Scare—national anti-communism movement—the United States saw Communism as a threat, the United States firmly believed that engaging into a war that fought the spread of Communism was for the common good. The Just Ad Bellum principle states that for a war to be just, it must be declared openly by a proper sovereign authority. However, the United States’ participation was not declared by the U. S. Congress, but when North Korean’s intention to take over South Korea were identified, President Harry Truman “ordered naval and air forces into action.” (Greenspan, 2013) The United States just intentions were based on stopping the spread of Communism not only within the nation, but internationally wide. Thus, although the Korean War had many casualties, according to the Jus Ad Bellum principle, the United States’ participation was

On January 16th, 1991, President George H. W. Bush publicly announced in the Address to the Nation the United States’ participation in the Gulf War. The Gulf War arose when Iraq accused Kuwait—rich in oil—of keeping the price of crude oil low, demanding it to forgive its thirty billion dollar debt in compensation for the acclaimed conspiracy (Smitha, n.d.). In this announcement, President Bush stated the United States’ just intentions for participating, and its goals. President Bush affirmed that other means to make Iraq leave Kuwait had been tried, but were unsuccessful. Thus, the US’s goal in this engagement was “…to drive [Iraq] from Kuwait by force.” Since the United States sought to fight an injustice: Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait for unbacked accusations, and pressures to forgive a debt, the Jus Ad Bellum theory would approve the United States’ participation in this