Abstract

Revising Just War Theory for the 21st Century

9:00-10:00 Introduction – Joseph Runzo Executive Director, Global Ethics and Relgiion Forum

Jus ad Bellum Considerations

10:00-10:45 “The Revision of Just War Theory in 20th Century Catholic Peace Ethics”, Heinz Gerhardt Justenhoven Director, Institut fur Theologie und Frieden, Hamburg, Germany

10:45-11:00 Tea

11:00-11:45 “Changing the Grammar of Just War Theory: Cosmopolitanism, Solidarity, and Otherness”, Philip Rossi, S.J. Professor of Theology and Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs, Marquette University, USA

11:45-12:30 “The Principle of War as Last Resort” Philip Towle, Reader in International Relations and Former Director, Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge

12:30-1:00 Open Discussion and first Conclusions on ad Bellum Considerations

1:00-2:30 Lunch

Jus in Bello Considerations

2:30-3:15 “The Military Ethics of Guerilla Warfare”, Asa Kasher Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Practice, Tel Aviv University; Editor Philosophia;author, Code of Ethics, Israeli Defense Forces;Israel Prize Laureate

3:15-4:00 “Human Rights and War” , Gerrie ter Haar Professor of Religion, Human Rights, and Social Change at the Institute of SocialStudies, The Hague, Netherlands

4:00-4:15 Tea

4:15-5:00 “The United Nations and International Law on War and Peace”, Krishna Ahooja-Patel, President, Committee on the Status of Women, Geneva, Professor of Women’s Studies and International Relations, Mount St. Vincent University, Canada

Round Table: Just War Theory and Asian Religious Traditions

Chair: Nancy M. Martin, Associate Director, Global Ethics and Religion Forum: Life Member, Clare Hall

Xinzhong Yao, Professor of Chinese Religions and Ethics, University of Wales, Lampeter; Life Member, Clare Hall

Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Professor of Systematic Theology and Religious Studies and Chair of World Religions for Peace, University of Glasgow, Scotland

5:45-6:30 Concluding Discussion with Wine and Cheese

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Revising Just War Theory for the 21st Century A Project of the Global Ethics and Religion Forum

This symposium is part of a larger project to revise Just War Theory. This revision is intended to produce an ethics of war that explicitly addresses new issues which have risen to prominence at the start of the 21st century, particularly international terrorism, humanitarian intervention, the use of child soldiers, the use of torture, and the employment of private military companies. The project will focus on ethics but will incorporate relevant historical, legal, political and cultural analysis, involving prominent ethicists, international lawyers, experts in international relations, experts in public policy, and scholars of the world religions.

One dimension of this project, which sets it apart from most analyses of the legal and ethical issues involved in Just War Theory, will be a close attention to the contribution which the world’s religious traditions can make to understanding the ethical dimensions of just warfare. If Just War Theory is going to succeed as a global ethic, then the major cultural and religious traditions of the world will need to have a sense that they can “buy into” the ethic. Additionally, the world religions can function as motivational support for adherence to the ethics of Just War Theory as a foundational aspect of successful conflict resolution and Just Peace.