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Arguing about War

Name: Arguing about War
Author: Michael Walzer
ISBN: 9780300103656

by Michael Walzer

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Overview

For the first time since his classic Just and Unjust Wars was published almost thirty years ago, this volume brings together provocative arguments by preeminent political theorist Michael Walzer on contemporary military conflicts-including the Iraq war-and the ethical issues they raise.

Synopsis

"Walzer's discussion about war and ethics are always provocative, well argued, and insightful. He is able to transform complex issues into readable, understandable, and persuasive prose."—Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World

Author Biography: Michael Walzer is UPS Foundation Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of more than a dozen books, including On Toleration, The Jewish Political Tradition, Volumes I and II, and 50 Years of Dissent, all published by Yale University Press.

Also available by Michael Walzer: On Toleration

Publishers Weekly

Walzer (Just and Unjust Wars) collects previously published pieces from the last 15 years that dramatize and discuss the ethical dilemmas of military intervention in emergency situations, after terrorism and during foreign civil wars. Walzer's consideration of pros and cons can be so theoretically oriented that it is difficult to tell where he stands precisely, but it is clear that he believes officers must require risk-taking in battle and soldiers should undertake it. He does not have anything good to say about pacifists and works to refute arguments on the left claiming that the terrorism originating in the developing world should be thought of differently than that originating elsewhere. Rwanda's ethnic cleansing, the Gulf War and Kosovo's bloody move toward independence all serve as case studies, often as facts on the ground were developing or before they developed; writing before the Iraq War, Walzer weighs military occupation in Iraq against the possibility of a better political regime and follows that with a provocative, counterintuitive argument that France, in particular, but also Germany and Russia, bear a heavy responsibility for the United States' decision to preemptively attack. Events are outpacing some of Walzer's deliberations, but his case studies put the issues at stake in relief, regardless of whether one accepts his conclusions. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Michael Walzer

Michael Walzer is UPS Foundation Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of more than a dozen books, including On Toleration, The Jewish Political Tradition, Volumes I and II, and 50 Years of Dissent, all published by Yale University Press.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Foreign Affairs

More than a quarter of a century after his path-breaking Just and Unjust Wars, Walzer has updated the main themes of that work with a collection of essays. His line has always been to take just war theory seriously, as an alternative to absolutist pacifism or amoral realism. In 1977, with Vietnam still in mind, the arguments erred on the restrictive. Now, faced with wrongs that deserve to be righted-crude aggression, ethnic cleansing, mass terrorism-his arguments are more permissive. But much of the book is concerned with navigating through the dilemmas posed by any use of organized violence, however carefully applied or morally justified. Of particular importance is Walzer's identification of a new postbellum category that demands as much attention as the more familiar areas. Walzer writes with admirable clarity, elegance, and common sense. As military operations these days tend to be justified by reference as much to morality as to security, this rigorous framework becomes all the more valuable. This also means, however, that the dilemmas may be all the more acute, and the concluding series of short pieces on Iraq demonstrates just how difficult moral navigation can become.

Library Journal

Walzer (Inst. for Advanced Study, Princeton) has attained the status of an eminent moral philosopher on collective violence through his classic Just and Unjust Wars (1977). In these previously published essays, he draws particular strength from an insightful combination of theory and case studies. For example, his discussion of the concept of proportionality in the first Gulf War challenges us to consider not only the costs of a response to aggression but the moral significance of specific wartime decisions. Walzer provides an excellent defense of the decision to embark upon a "just war" and what is implied by justification. His objection that the second Gulf War was "preventive, not preemptive" clarifies the moral difference between the two and shows that, contrary to President Bush's view, the current war was not preemptive. Walzer's discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict offers a good account of why the moral argument is confusing; elements of each side have engaged the other in two distinct wars, both just and unjust. A concluding chapter explains different versions of global governance, but perhaps the book's title reflects Walzer's most durable accomplishment. Highly recommended for both academic and public libraries. Zachary T. Irwin, Sch. of Humanities and Social Science, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.