In this commentary, Steve Young encourages us to think about war through the lens of the Russian/Ukraine war and as reflected in time-honored U.N. declarations, as well as other long-standing arguments that define the concept of just war, including the Caux Round Table Principles of Moral Government. He finds the U.S.’s current approach to these issues wanting.
Arguments can be made for war, but what should those arguments be based upon? To start, history holds no moral debt to the present. A war – armed invasion or cyber-attack – must always be evaluated on its own contemporary merit. Simply because my ancestors were murdered by your ancestors and took their land carries no moral justification for revenge.
The death of people will always be an outcome of war. What ethical argument can be advanced to claim that anyone (people) has the right to kill other people? To ignore this truth is to invite war on yourself and to break the important laws and rules of just war developed and agreed upon over many decades.