JUST WAR
As widely used, a term referring to any war between states that meets generally accepted international criteria of justification. The concept of just war invokes both political and theological ideology, as it promotes a peaceful resolution and
coexistence between states, and the use of force or
the invocation of armed conflict only under cer-
tain circumstances. It is not the same as, but is
often confused with, the term jihad or “holy war,”
a Muslim religious justification for war.
The principle of a just war emerged early in
the development of scholarly writings on INTER-
NATIONAL LAW. Under this view, a just war was a
means of national SELF-HELP whereby a state
attempted to enforce rights actually or allegedly
based on international law. State practice from
the eighteenth to the early part of the twentieth
century generally rejected this distinction, how-
ever, as war became a legally permissible
national policy to alter the existing rights of
states, irrespective of the actual merits of the
controversy.
Following WORLD WAR I, diplomatic negoti-
ations resulted in the General Treaty for the
Renunciation of War, more commonly known
as the KELLOGG-BRIAND PACT, signed in 1928.
The signatory nations renounced war as a means
to resolve international disputes promising
instead to use peaceful methods.
The aims of the Kellogg-Briand Pact were
adopted in the Charter of the UNITED NATIONS
in 1945. Under the charter, the use or threat of
force as an instrument of national policy was
condemned, but nations were permitted to use
force in individual or collective SELF-DEFENSE
against an aggressor. The General Assembly of
the United Nations has further defined aggres-
sion as armed force by a state against the
sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political
independence of another state, regardless of the
reasons for the use of force. The Security Coun-
cil is empowered to review the use of force, and
therefore, to determine whether the relevant cir-
cumstances justify branding one nation as the
aggressor and in violation of charter obligations.
Under the modern view, a just war is one waged
consistent with the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the
Charter of the United Nations.
What has complicated the concept of just
war in contemporary international relations is
the emergence of “asymmetrical warfare.” The
term refers to conflict with parties or entities
(such as international terrorist groups) who are
neither officially connected with, nor owe alle-
giance to, any particular public authority or
state. While these individuals or groups may be
dependent upon clandestine assistance from
states willing to help them secretly, they are not
publicly responsible to them. Since contempla-
tion of just war requires public authorities to act
in their official capacities for the common good,
that objective is frustrated by the lack of a dis-
cernible, clearly identifiable enemy state against
which to act. As a result, the international com-
munity has attempted to unite in a common
effort to declare war against TERRORISM in gen-
