ISSUE 183 : Nov/Dec - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

The book is structured into three parts. Part I: ‘The Western Just War Tradition’ documents theshift in theories from those based on religion to those based on reason. Despite the antiquityof these theories, they have contemporary relevance to the Australian process of declaringwar—currently the subject of debate within Federal Parliament—which is underpinned byideas of legitimate authority (very much a Kantian consideration). These Western notions ofjust war are then compared to those of other societies presented within the text, largelyproviding an etic account.In contrast, Part II: ‘The Concept of Just War in Southwest and South Asian Thought’ focuseson various beliefs which straddle both the political and religious, incorporating Sunni, Shi’iand Hindu perspectives. This section touches on the idea that defensive war is not technicallyjihad but, disappointingly, this idea is not further explored. The section substantiates thetrend within societies to search for normative standards to govern conduct and behaviour,and the just use of armed force. Highly-controversial arguments of legitimate authority areaddressed in this section, examining the interpretation of Shari’a tradition and other beliefsby militant groups such as al-Qaeda.Part III: ‘The Concept of Just War in East Asian Thought’ delves into the various ways thatChina, Japan and Korea have defined and practised just war. The current US ‘hearts and minds’approach in Afghanistan stems from the various ancient Chinese military texts referenced,perhaps the oldest and most influential of which is Sun Zi’s Art of War. The last two papersin this section provide very broad explanations of just war through documenting largeepochs, foregoing detail in order to explain the greater trend of just war concepts employedto manipulate contemporary political requirements. However, this section does provide thebackground thinking underpinning North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.Collectively, these papers provide a springboard that could prompt Australia’s strategic anddefence community to examine and understand our own justifications for war and our positionwithin the global context. Outlining just war theory in relation to various military operationsis central to this book, making it of worth to anyone interested in the justification of war andrules of engagement. While a background in just war and social contract theories would beadvantageous to the reader, most chapters are accessible to those who are unfamiliar with thetopic and wish to learn more.The inherent value of this text is the collation of perspectives beyond western societies anddocumenting the influences of culture on the moral constructs of just war theory, notingthat neither are mutually exclusive. At times, the broad range of topics covered comes at theexpense of in-depth and detailed discussion. If the overarching question to be answered bythis collection of papers is whether there is overlap in each society’s just war tradition, thenI think this is reflected in the concern of the differing just war thinkers to offer norms in theregulation of war, so that military operations are harnessed to meet political ends. However,it is evident that each tradition still finds authentic ways of dealing with new problems. If youare not deterred by somewhat overarching statements (and some typographic discrepancies)and are seeking an overview on diverse socio-political entities, this book is recommended.104