Just War, why it still matters today (March 2025)

Just War – why it still matters today

Right now, we’re witnessing the escalation of violence in the Middle East after the joint US-Israel bombing of Iran. At the same time (if we haven’t forgotten), Ukraine continues to fight for its independence, and elsewhere extended wars are being waged to decide who has the right (or might) to rule the countries.

The tragedy is not just how frequently human beings go to war, but how everyone is affected when we do - the soldiers and their families, the children, the communities and the economies of those involved. Owing to this, we have a duty to ask ourselves: is it necessary and is it right? And don’t be tempted to think these questions mean the same thing.

Just War Theory is an attempt to formulate an answer. It provides us with a set of moral ideas that help us decide. Forget Hegseth’s ‘no stupid rules of engagement’ comment, we need to determine whether going to war is justified in any given situation, and if it is, how we should fight it.

The theory has its roots in Christian ethics and Western philosophical tradition, proposed by Saint Augustine and refined by St Thomas Aquinas. Over time, it has formed part of international law and modern ethical thinking. The theory aims to structure rules about when a war can be started (jus ad bellum) and how it should be conducted (jus in bello).

Pacifists aside, (which includes Christ, of course), a war may be considered morally acceptable if it meets certain conditions. These work as a tick-off list, which can be used to judge the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Iran and the others around the world.

First ask yourself if the reason for fighting the war is just. For example, is it truly defensive; is it declared by a government; is the purpose to achieve peace and justice (not revenge, or power or economic capital); are the chances of winning high enough to justify the cost of life; have all other solutions failed, and is the harm that the war will cause lesser than the harm that is aiming to prevent.

If you believe the situation ticks all these boxes, you are saying the war is justified. But now you need to keep an eye on how it is being fought. It is important that civilians are never targeted deliberately and that any collateral damage is limited; that force isn’t excessive and that all unnecessary suffering is avoided.

For what it is worth, here are my thoughts on Ukraine, Iran and Gaza.

While Ukraine is justified to defend itself, it is not obvious that its chances of winning are high, nor can we know how to measure the costs of fighting against the existential cost of losing one’s freedom. In comparison, it’s hard to make a moral case for Russia’s ‘invasion’.  When it comes to jus in bello, Russia’s calculating attack on the people of Ukraine is immoral and, so far, Ukraine’s fight has been proportional. But, of course, this isn’t the end of the story; the war is still being fought. Were Ukraine’s tactics to become overtly destructive and were they to attack Russian civilians in order to demoralize them, they would become an active player in global instability and abuse of human rights.

Let’s look at Iran. Pre-emptive strikes are tricky in Just War Theory because it depends on whether the threat Iran posed was clear and immediate and could not be resolved through diplomacy. I don’t know enough to make a judgement. Moreover, escalation is a calculation that can only be known after the event, but the threat of it should always be considered and right now it seems to be high. The challenge is to keep one’s dislike of the regime separate from one’s judgement on the war’s legality.

When considering Israel-Gaza, the most serious questions centre around Israel’s conduct in war. Civilians have suffered deeply and it appears that the Israelis use of force has been neither proportional nor discriminatory, attacking combatants and non-combatants alike.

Many of you will disagree with what I have written. And that’s okay. None of us come to the question free of bias. We are moved to judge according to beliefs we already hold. This makes an objective assessment difficult. Moreover, we are subject to information filtered by the media, politicians and influencers, who have their own reasons for believing what they do.  Yet still, it is important we ask these questions.

Just War Theory cannot stop wars – human beings will continue to fight. But it offers a moral compass by which to judge them. It demands that we ask the hard questions about justice and the value of human life. It requires us to think, step outside our worldview and think again. We might not know the answer, but we can engage in the question: should it be happening? And should it be happening in this way?