Aquinas Just War Analysis

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Centuries later, Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) developed further the concept of just war. He asserted that three things were necessary for a war to be just:
(1) The one declaring war must be a rightful sovereign, a legitimate leader;
(2) The nation being attacked must deserve it because of some serious fault or injustice; and
(3) The nation doing the attacking must have a good intention such as advancing good or stopping evil. More modern treatments of just war have included the ideas that war must be the last resort after all other options have failed, and the means of prosecuting the war must be proportional to the offence of the nation deserving attack.

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