Just and Unjust Warriors: Marking the 35th Anniversary of Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars

• Dunlap, Jr., Charles J.

Abstract

Gabriella Blum’s brilliant article wrestles with the central question of modern conflict: what does victory look like, and whatever it looks like, what does it mean – or, perhaps more accurately, what should it mean? This brief article seeks to address her work through the lens of the author’s military experience. That perspective would define victory in Clausewitzean terms, that is, the point at which a belligerent is compelled to submit his will to his opponent. As Blum points out, that seeming clarity is obscured in many modern conflicts involving non-traditional actors and warfighting methodologies. While the Just War doctrine resonates in the armed forces, the decision to go to war is largely considered a political matter beyond the military’s purview. Jus in bello, however, does lie in the military’s realm as much depends on the perception of rightness in contemporary conflicts if ‘victory’ is to be obtained. Yet Professor Blum’s central thesis about the importance of clear goals in contemporary conflicts remains undisturbed. Her further observation that ‘the problem of the fog of victory extends not only to international relations but also to domestic civil-military relations’ has obvious and enduring relevance.