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A just war is a war which is ethically or legally permissible according to a set of rules. The rules applied may be universal ethics, religious principles, or formal codes such as international law. The rules may cover the motivation for the war (casus belli) or conduct of the participants relative to combatants and more particularly non-combatants.

Just war theory has ancient roots. Cicero discussed this idea and its applications.

St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas codified a set of rules for a just war, which remains frequently referred to, albeit in an updated form. Few warriors nowadays are troubled by the idea of ambush or by fighting on holy days in particular. In the updated view, a just war requires that:

• All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force
• War is waged by a legitimate authority
• War only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause
• The sole objective is to redress the wrong
• War be waged with a reasonable chance of success
• The ultimate goal be the re-establishment of peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.
• The violence of the war must be proportional to the wrong endured
• Every effort be taken to avoid killing civilians

Actions specifically forbidden by the just war doctrine are:

• Material gains as a justification for war.
• Torture, either of combatants or of non-combatants.
• Targeting or killing of civilians.

The doctrine of total war employed by Realpolitik would include permitting scorched earth tactics and torture amongst others.

External links

• Resources on Just War Theory