War and Morality

While every war is horrific and reflects the worst kind of human failure on all sides, reality indicates that, in an imperfect world, war will always exist. The challenge remains for national leaders and ordinary citizens to make every effort to wage war in a moral manner. This volume strives to help individuals decide whether war, generally or specifically, can be a moral enterprise based on core constitutional and humanitarian values. It considers the nature of conscience, various moral norms, a moral decision-making process, and the theoretical and practical issues involved in acting morally in the real world of war. By revealing how the morality of war differs from the political, military, legal and economic dimensions typically considered when making decisions about war, this valuable work educates and empowers citizens to make informed decisions about declaring, waging and ending war.