The Legitimate Use of Military Force The Just War Tradition and the Customary Law of Armed Conflict

Throughout human history, scholars, statesmen and military leaders have attempted to define what constitutes the legitimate use of armed force by one community against another, and if force is to be used, what guidelines should govern the conduct of warfare. Based upon the assumption that armed conflict is a human enterprise and therefore subject to human limitations, the Western 'just war tradition' represents an attempt to provide these guidelines. This volume brings together an internationaly recognized team of scholars, and seeks to apply an interdisciplinary approach to analyse and assess the linkage between just war and the norms of behavior. It explores the philosophic and societal foundations of the just war tradition, relates the principles of jus ad bellum to contemporary issues confronting the global community and explores the relationship between the principles of jus in bello and the various principles embodied in the customary law of armed conflict.