Can a nation justify using military force? Winston Churchill, a truly respected English leader, once told the people of England that, “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Over the course of history nations have waged war for the sake of land and resources. However, some nations fought to save lives, to defend citizens against tyrants and dictators, and to protect liberty. A nation can justify using military force in self-defense, to police atrocious evil acts, and when a foreign entity forcibly rules an alien country against its will. A country can validate war when attacked and “The most vital interests of that same country are threatened and where there are no promising alternatives to using force” (Haas, “When is War Justifiable?”) …show more content…
In 1993 the Catholic Church defined just military action as, “force that may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e., aggression or massive violation of the basic rights of whole populations” (National Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The Challenge of Peace,”). For instance, when Hitler killed six million Jews, the nations could righteously declare war because Hitler planned to exterminate the Jewish race. In addition, in American history the South tortured and mistreated black slaves for centuries. Southern states treated blacks as if they were not human by buying and selling them like animals. Therefore, the North could justify a war to relieve the persecution. Another example includes how NATO prevented the Serbians from their attempt to exterminate the Bosnians. Every race holds value and deserves preservation. To prevent horrific atrocities, a nation should intervene to protect
1776 marked a significant year in American history. That was the year in which the U.S. declared its independence from its fathering nation, Britain. Britain did not just give America the freedom, America fought for their freedom. American broke away for numerous reasons. This paper will explain why the colonists broke away and whether or not their reasons for waging war and breaking justified.
In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli).
Most governments enforce the law by organizing a police force to protect citizens from one another, while also banding together a military to help protect by defending the country from outside forces. For this reason, most governments automatically have the responsibility of running and commanding a military that can repel invasions or even battle the country’s interests abroad. During the British Colonization, for example, “At that time the main problem for the Americans was to invent a strategy that would beat the Indians at their own game of lightning raids against defenseless settlements and of ambushing columns of men marching in European formations.” (McCarl 1). In order to have people feel obligated to help defend their country, they should feel as if their country defends
Operation Rolling Thunder was a widely criticized air campaign designed to deter the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) from supporting the National Liberation Front, in South Vietnam. In contrast, Operation Instant Thunder, named to distinguish itself from the former, was an incredibly effective air campaign that successfully destroyed Iraq’s war making capability. While the Jus En Bello of each campaign can be analyzed independently, they cannot fairly be evaluated without further inspection of the Jus Ad Bellum. The aim of such analysis is not solely for a determination of the ethics of each conflict, but also to examine how and if the morality of the Jus En Bello is influenced by the Jus Ad Bellum. After examining the ethics of the decision
This includes, but not limited to, destroying Indian villages, livestock, and
In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli).
Killing people just so you can get an advantage is just not right. Imperialism is the state policy, practice,or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Because it always involves the use of power, whether military force or some subtler form, imperialism has often been considered morally reprehensible, and the term is frequently employed in international propaganda to denounce and discredit an opponent’s foreign policy. The age of Imperialism was late 1800s and early 1900s.
Country ‘s should go to war because if we don’t there is no other way for a country to get what they want peacefully. The most peaceful way to settle our differences is by going to war. For example let’s say that Canada wants the land that is occupied by America. The country’s leaders aren’t going to just give Canada their land. Because that is where Americans live, and they don’t want to give up their land because they have had it for a very long time.
What is the criteria for a Just War? The definition of Just War according to Dictionary.com would be, “A military action that is justified as being permissible for legal or moral reasons.” What justifies war permissible would be next thing to look at. Before going
Persecution can be defined in this statement, “They often use euphemisms to cloak their intentions, such as referring to their goals as “ethnic cleansing,” “purification,” or “counter-terrorism.” They build armies, buy weapons, and train their troops and militias. They indoctrinate the populace with fear of the victim group. Leaders often claim that “if we don’t kill them, they will kill us. (The Ten Stages of Genocide, Gregory H. Stanton)”
The individual freedoms guaranteed by our founding fathers and written in the constitution, become the first causalities when our leaders decide to declare war. The first ten Amendments of the Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights are the foundation of this nation’s laws, and is the benchmark of how our government treats the citizenry. Many times in our history leaders took actions to suspend personal freedoms in the name of “war”. A few examples are, the killing and repatriation of the Native American, the Japanese and German internment camps during World War II in the name of war and national security concerns. For the purposes of this paper the main focus will be on the time from the 1950’s to today.
In the UNSC’s article 51, individual and collective self-defense can be authorized by the UNSC under the framework of collective security. However, genocide is never justifiable in the eyes of the UN. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature between war and genocide is the disproportionally ability of those involved to fight back. Within war there is a certain level of understanding that those engaging in the conflict will have an ability to engage in battle. However, historically in genocides the effected groups have had little to no ability to proportionately fight against their attackers.
The first great-war shattered the human mind so profound that out of its aftermaths’ emerged a fresh discipline (in 1919 at the University of Whales known to us as International Relations) proposed to prevent war. “It was deemed by the scholars that the study of International Politics shall find the root cause of the worlds political problems and put forward solutions to help politicians solve them” (Baylis 2014:03). International Relations happened to play the role of a ‘correcting-mechanism’ restoring the world order of peace and amity by efforting at its best to maintain the worlds’ status quo. However with the emergence of a second world war much more massive that the first put at stake all the values of that young discipline of IR. The
The United States, Europe and Japan saw such a potential monopoly as a danger. This war is important because it puts forward a perfect example of Realism being practiced in real life. The war shows us the need of an International Peacekeeping Organization but also warns us that they might not always be useful and this is when the use of ‘Power’ comes in which is the essence of Realism. In this case the ‘Power’ we are referring to is the United States which intervened in this war to help Kuwait defeat Iraq.
Example: In ancient times, so-called “dark ages”, the religion was forced to people in cruel way declared as “holy wars”. Though, the reasons for conquer of the lands were to broaden the boundaries, possess the agriculture territories and trading centers. Neusner, J. & Chilton, B. (2008). Religious Tolerance in World Religions | Templeton Press. Templetonpress.org.