Close Calls: Intervention, Terrorism, Missle Defense and 'Just War' Today

Close Calls: Intervention, Terrorism, Missile Defense and 'Just War' Today, Edited by Elliott Abrams, Washington, DC: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1998. pp. 389 (paper covers), $19.95.

The evolution of morality in warfare can be traced back at least to St. Augustine and arguably even further back to the early days of the Roman Empire. Augustine and his mentor Ambrose of Milan began the codification of the laws of war by applying the Christian doctrine of 'defense of one's neighbor.' Such defense as exposited by them also required that prosecution of war was legitimate only if it were declared by legitimate state authorities. Further development of just war doctrine had to await the later Middle Ages when the Thomas Aquinas, Victoria and others codified ius ad bellum (the laws governing states going to war) and ius in bellum (the laws governing the prosecution of war). Gradually, the purely Christian doctrinal basis was extended to include the "natural law" that originated in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. The law of war publicized and placed on a more or less firm basis by Grotius (among others) in the 17th Century stood the test of time until the present century when mass armies, industrial warfare, terrorism and heretofore unknown levels of violence overtook it. The main strength of this book is its presentation of the changes that have taken place in the closing years of this century.

Because of these recent changes, the laws of war are in flux. For example, how should we deal with intervention as in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo? No international law exists to govern such actions nor is any in sight. The current effort to create an International Criminal Court (unfortunately, not discussed in the book) faces opposition from several important nations, including the U.S., because of its likely departure from their judicial norms. Insofar as the U.S. is concerned, the experience in Vietnam which led to the Weinberger/Powell doctrine has caused enormous dissension about providing "peace-keeping/ making" forces. As the occupation of Bosnia grows from a year or so to a decade, this dissension is likely to grow with it. A major omission is discussion of the influence that intervention (imperialism?) exerts on the intervening powers. A chapter on Vietnam (and the Soviet Union in the case of Afghanistan) would have been most appropriate to the issue.

International terrorism is a new mode of warfare that was not very significant during the Cold War when the U.S. and USSR kept their proxies within tight limits. The discussion of dealing with terrorism from the standpoint of just war theory is well done, applying the more or less accepted rules of warfare to this new mode. The Israeli experience with the Palestinians and others serves as a concrete example. An exception to these high quality chapters is a chapter written by a retired senior FBI official which succeeds in clouding the issues of terrorism. For example, he places the Branch Davidians who were killed in Waco, Texas in 1993 among the militia groups. They were not -- they were a religious group, strange to be sure, but not a militia. The author also takes this opportunity to defend the government's assault on the compound. He does not mention the use of CS gas in confined spaces; any use on a foreign enemy would be a violation of international law! Editor Abrams was not well-- served by going to the FBI.

The final section deals with defense against ballistic missile attack. Initially the line taken by opponents was based on lack of feasibility. Then it changed to its alleged horrendous expense, and when that objection became obviated to the fall-back position of violation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. While the chapter authors (one of them, Margaret Thatcher) eliminate these objections one by one, it would have been helpful to include a representative of the opposition. Despite these (for the most part minor) flaws, Abrams has succeeded in bringing together the key elements of "just war" theory as it stands today.

Reviewed by Robert C. Whitten, Book Review Editor

Copyright Dr. George Kourvetaris Summer 1999
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