Just War Theory

Abstract

The first chapter of the thesis is an introductory. It focuses on the concept of war and its historical reality. It also looks at the different theories with regard to the concept of war. The Just War Theory will here be located within two opposing theories of war, namely Pacifism and Permissivism (Realism). The next three chapters look at the integral parts of Just War Theory respectively. Chapter two discusses the six criteria that must be fulfilled for a particular declaration of war to be justified. This chapter looks also at the justification of preemptive wars distinguishing it from preventative wars. Chapter three examines Jus in bello, the morality in the actual battlefield. Chapter four looks at the ending of wars and the requirements following a just end of wars. Chapter five looks at the concept of rehabilitation as a component of jus post bellum. In this chapter, I discuss the danger of a??forced acculturationa??a??this visualizes an attempt by a more powerful culture to infuse the elements of its alien cultural system on a people with different cultural background. A historical reference will be made to Afghanistan and Iraq. Finally there is a brief conclusion.