War Ethics: Theory, Practice, and Memoir

Introduction

Part I: Theory: The Big Three Theories, and Two Added Perspectives
Introduction

I.1: Realism

• 1. Thucydides, “Melian Dialogue” (circa 404 BCE)
• 2. Thomas Hobbes, from Leviathan (1651)
• 3. Carl von Clausewitz, from On War (1832)
• 4. Jo Jakobsen, “Neorealism in International Relations – Kenneth Waltz” (2013)
• 5. Nicholas Ross Smith & Grant Dawson, “Mearsheimer, realism, and the Ukraine war” (2022)
• 6. Brian Orend, “Evaluating the Realist Alternative” (2025)
• Reflection Questions

I.2: Pacifism and Non-Violence

• 7. William Penn, from “An essay towards the present and future peace of Europe” (1693)
• 8. Mahatma Gandhi, “On Satyagraha” (1920–1946)
• 9. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)
• 10. Erica Chenoweth & Maria Stefan, “Drop Your Weapons: When and Why Civil Resistance Works” (2014)
• 11. Andrew Fiala, “The Pacifist Tradition and Pacifism as Transformative and Critical Theory” (2019)
• 12. Brian Orend, “Evaluating the Pacifist Alternative” (2025)
• Reflection Questions

I.3: Just War Theory (and International Law & Policy)

Jus ad Bellum / Start of War

• 13. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologiæ (1270)
• 14. The United Nations, Charter (1945)
• 15. Michael Walzer, “Law and Order in International Society” (1977)
• 16. United States Congress, Authorization to Use Military Force (2001)
• 17. Executive Office of the President, The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (2002)
• 18. Neta C. Crawford, “The slippery slope to preventive war” (2003)
• 19. Jeff McMahan, “Unjust War in Iraq” (2004)
• 20. Mark Landler, “20 Years On, the War on Terror Grinds Along, With No End in Sight” (2021)
• 21. United Nations General Assembly, Aggression against Ukraine (2022)
• Reflection Questions

Jus in Bello / Conduct During War

• 22. Hugo Grotius, from On The Law of War and Peace (1625)
• 23. Francis Lieber, “Lieber’s Code” (1863)
• 24. Second International Peace Conference, Hague IV Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (1907)
• 25. International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva Convention III Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949)
• 26. Michael Walzer, “War’s Means, and the Importance of Fighting Well” (1977)
• 27. Jeff McMahan, “The Source and Status of Just War Principles” (2007)
• 28. Dan Zupan, “The Logic of Community, Ignorance, and the Presumption of Moral Equality: A Soldier’s Story” (2007)
• 29. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Türk deplores human cost of Russia’s war against Ukraine as verified civilian casualties for last year pass 21,000” (2023)
• 30. Steven Feldstein & (Chun Hey) Kot, “Two Deeply Troubling Trends From Ukraine’s Year of War” (2023)
• 31. Andrew Sullivan, “Bomb First, Ask Questions Later” (2024)
• Reflection Questions

Jus post Bellum / After War

• 32. Immanuel Kant, from On Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (1795)
• 33. International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Charter (1945)
• 34. International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Judgment against Hermann Goering (1946)
• 35. International Criminal Court, Rome Statute (1998)
• 36. Brian Orend, “Just War Theory and International Law: End-of-War” (2025)
• 37. David Rohde, “Biden’s Chaotic Withdrawal from Afghanistan Is Complete” (2021)
• 38. Luke Hartig, “Five Principles to End the Forever War” (2021)
• 39. Government of Ukraine, “What is Zelensky’s Ten-Point Peace Plan?” (2023)
• 40. Joseph Biden, “Remarks by President Biden on the Middle East” (2024)
• Reflection Questions

I.4: Feminism, Gender, and War

• 41. Virginia Woolf, from Three Guineas (1938)
• 42. Jean Said Makdisi, “War and Peace: Reflections of a Feminist” (2008)
• 43. Amina Mama, “Where we must stand: African women in an age of war” (2012)
• 44. Camilla Maybee, “9 Hard Truths About Being a Woman In The Military” (2014)
• 45. Devin Dwyer, “‘I’m still here’: Transgender troops begin new era of open military service” (2021)
• Reflection Questions

I.5: Religious and Non-Western Perspectives

• 46. from the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh / Old Testament
• 47. from the New Testament of the Christian Bible
• 48. from the Quran
• 49. Lao Tzu, from Tao Te Ching
• 50. Sun Tzu, from The Art of War
• 51. from the Mahābhārata
• 52. Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyui, from “Towards an African Theory of Just War”
• 53. from Kayanerehkowa: The Great Law of Peace
• Reflection Questions

Part II: Practice
Introduction

II.1: Humanitarian Intervention / Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

• 54. International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, The Responsibility to Protect (2001)
• 55. Catherine Renshaw, “R2P: An idea whose time never comes” (2021)
• 56. Brian Orend, “Armed Humanitarian Intervention and R2P” (2025)

II.2: Asymmetrical / Hybrid Conflict

• 57. William S. Lind, et al., “The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation” (1989)
• 58. Arsalan Bilal, “Hybrid Warfare – New Threats, Complexity, and ‘Trust’ as the Antidote” (2021)

II.3: Business of War

• 59. Vladimir Lenin, from “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism” (1916)
• 60. Dwight Eisenhower, from his Farewell Address as U.S. President (1961)
• 61. Peter W. Singer, “Outsourcing War” (2005)

II.4: Cyberconflict

• 62. John Arquilla, “Twenty Years of Cyberwar” (2013)
• 63. Michael Schmitt (ed.), Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations (2017)
• 64. Susan Landau, “Cyberwar in Ukraine: What You See Is Not What’s Really There” (2022)
• 65. Brian Orend, “Cyberwarfare” (2025)

II.5: Drones and Targeted Killings

• 66. Daniel Byman, “Why Drones Work: The Case for Washington’s Weapon of Choice” (2013)
• 67. Daniel Bell, Jr., “The Drone Wars and Just War” (2014)
• 68. Eric Schmidt, “The Future of War Seen on the Battlefields of Ukraine” (2023)
• 69. Nathan Gardels, “From Mass To Distributed Weapons Of Destruction: Networks of connectivity are the battleground of the future” (2024)

II.6: Environmental Impact of War

• 70. Rachel Ruiqi, “Amid war, Ukrainians are tracking Russia’s crimes against the environment” (2022)
• 71. International Law Commission, Draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts (2022)

II.7: Terrorism & Torture

• 72. David Luban, “The War on Terrorism and the End of Human Rights” (2002)
• 73. Alan Dershowitz, “A choice of evils: Should democracies use torture to protect against terrorism?” (2014)
• 74. United States Senate, Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2014)
• 75. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, “Ukrainian and Russian POWs tortured and ill-treated” (2022)

II.7: Soldier Issues

• 76. United States President Dwight Eisenhower, Executive Order 10631—Code of Conduct for members of the Armed Forces of the United States (1955)
• 77. Thom Nickels, “My Time as a Vietnam War-era Conscientious Objector” (2014)
• 78. Former U.S. Secretaries of Defence plus Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Open Letter: “To Support and Defend: Principles of Civilian Control and Best Practices of Civil-Military Relations” (2022)
• 79. Ashley Burke, “5% of women at military colleges report being sexually attacked” (2024)
• 80. Philip Carter, “What America Owes Its Veterans” (2017)
• 81. Brian Orend, “Rights of Soldiers and Veterans” (2025)
• Reflection Questions

Part III: Memoir
Introduction

III.1: Soldier Experiences

• 82. J. Glenn Gray, “The Ache of Guilt” (1959)
• 83. Various, from Letters from Vietnam (1965–1966)
• 84. Kayla Williams (with Michael Staub), from Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army (2005)
• 85. Sean Parnell (with John Bruning), from Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and The Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan (2018)
• 86. Danielle DeSimone, “3 Stories of Bravery that Help Show What a Purple Heart Means” (2021)
• 87. Pavlo Kazarin, “A year ago I volunteered as a soldier in the Ukrainian army” (2023)
• Reflection Questions

III.2: Civilians in War

• 88. Various, from Senso: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War: Letters to the Editor of “Asahi Shimbun” (1980s)
• 89. Anonymous, from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary (2006)
• 90. Ishmael Beah, from A Long Way Gone (2013)
• 91. Evelyn Amony, from I Am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming My Life from the Lord’s Resistance Army (2015)
• 92. Christy Turner, “A Ukrainian refugee taught me what an incredible gift it is to help others” (2022)
• Reflection Questions

III.3: Reporters and Observers

• 93. Svetlana Alexievich, from The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II (1985)
• 94. Hannah Arendt, from Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on The Banality of Evil (1963)
• 95. Marie Colvin, “The Shot Hit Me” (2001)
• 96. Shaili A., “I was scared to death. I knew I was going to die.” (2024)
• 97. James Elder, “First-hand Account: No safety for children in Gaza” (2023)
• 98. ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan, “Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine” (2024)
• Reflection Questions

Conclusion: War Ethics, New Technology, and The Future of Conflict