War

War

Introduction to War

War, in international law, armed conflict between two or more governments or states. When such conflicts assume global proportions, they are known as world wars. War between different parts or factions of the same nation is called civil war.

A rebellion is not legally considered a war; to entitle the armed forces of the rebels to the rights and privileges of belligerents, the government they serve must be organized so as to be in a position to meet the duties resting on belligerents, that is, they must have the power to maintain law and order within the regions occupied by them and to carry on war on a large scale by land, sea, or air.

International hostilities sometimes continue for long periods of time without being acknowledged as wars. The Korean War was regarded by the U.S. government as a police action. Conflicts or wars in which major powers purposely refrain from employing all their armed strength are often known as limited wars. Short of peace, such limited wars are now recognized as a preferable alternative to the specter of nuclear war.

International wars are generally terminated by treaty, and civil wars by a peace proclamation. The usages, customs, and treaties of nations have formed a system of laws of war.” (1)

The Doctrine of Rousseau Concerning War

Lassa Oppenheim, in the book entitled The Future of International Law, about The Doctrine of Rousseau Concerning War, wrote in 1921: 72. My second example is taken from the use to which an assertion of Rousseau is commonly put. In his Contrat Social, Bk. I, ch. iv, is the following passage: ‘War, then, is not a relation of man to man, but a relation of states in which private persons are enemies only accidentally; not as men nor even as citizens, but as soldiers; not as members of their country, but as its defenders. In a word, each state can only have as enemies other states and not men; seeing that no true relation can exist between things of different natures.’ It is in this assertion of Rousseau that a basis is found for a quite common doctrine to the effect that war is a relation only between the belligerent states and their contending forces. See how much else has been deduced from this principle and demanded on the strength of it! That blockade is only permissible in the case of naval ports and fortified coast-towns, and not in the case of other ports and places. That breach of blockade is as little punishable as carriage of contraband, seeing that it is but a commercial act of peaceable individuals, it being immaterial whether they are subjects of a neutral power or of the enemy. That the capture of enemy merchant vessels on the high seas is unlawful, because these vessels are dedicated to peaceful trade alone, and have naught to do with hostilities. That peaceful intercourse, and especially commercial intercourse, between the subjects of the belligerents cannot be forbidden. And more of the same kind. If now we examine more closely, we find that there is a sound principle at the core of Rousseau’s doctrine, but that the sentence ‘war is merely a relation between the belligerent states and their contending forces’ is an empty, untenable phrase. The sound central principle is that in fact, according to modern conceptions, war is a struggle between the belligerent states, carried on by means of their military and naval forces, and that their subjects can only be attacked or taken prisoners so far as they take part in hostilities, and that, if they behave quietly and peaceably, they are spared harsh treatment as far as possible. But to assume on that account that a war in which his state is engaged does not affect a subject, and that he is not brought thereby into hostile relations to the other side so long as he abstains from any active part in hostilities–this deals a blow in the face to all the actual facts of war. Certainly, a peaceable subject does enjoy exemption from avoidable severities, but he is none the less the object of coercive measures. If at the outbreak of a war he be resident in the territory of the enemy, cannot he be expelled? If he contribute to a loan raised by the enemy, will not his own state punish him for treason? Is it not the law of many states that if they go to war, an end is put to peaceful intercourse, and especially commercial intercourse, between their own subjects and the subjects of the enemy state? Must not the private person submit to requisitions, pay contributions, endure limitations on his freedom of movement, and obey the commands of the hostile occupant? Is not his property on many occasions–for example, during a siege or a bombardment, or on the field of battle–destroyed without compensation? Must he not, if his fatherland is completely conquered and annexed by the enemy, reconcile himself to becoming a subject of the enemy? Whoever has lived in a district occupied by an enemy knows what an empty phrase the assertion is, that war is not a hostile relation between a belligerent state and the subjects of its enemy. Yet the phrase, nevertheless, wanders from book to book and from mouth to mouth, and must always be available whenever wanted in order to justify some assertion which contradicts the recognized rules of warfare. The kernel of truth in Rousseau’s doctrine is this, that while the soldier is put in an actively hostile position, the peaceable subject of a belligerent is put in a passively hostile position; but the doctrine is absolutely misunderstood, although the distinction which it asserts is quite commonly recognized. And so here also it must be repeated that, if we are to arrive at clearness, if baseless claims are not to appear under the cover of law, the phrase ‘War is only a relation between the belligerent states and their contending forces’ must disappear, as being misleading, from the science of international law.

Concept of Icbm’s

An introductory definition of Icbm’s is provided here: inter-continental ballistic missiles

Concept of Mirv’s

An introductory definition of Mirv’s is provided here: multiple independently targetted re-entry vehicles (see also ICBM’S)

Concept of War

An introductory definition of War is provided here: A state of hostilities between or within nation states. In terms of the U.S. Constitution, a state of “war” exists when declared so by Congress. In actual use, nations (including the U.S.) often engage in military action without formally calling those actions war. A similar meaning would be: legitimate use of organized violence or force to achieve “goods” (also see conflict).

Concept of War

Note: explore also the meaning of this legal term in the American Ecyclopedia of Law.

Literature Review on (Ethics) Just War Theory

In the Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, [1] Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh offers the following summary about the topic of (Ethics) Just War Theory: Proponents of just war argue that disinterested principles of universal justice should motivate and inform a government’s deliberations about whether and when to combat a foreign power. Moral principles should trump preoccupations with international power, prestige, money, or security. Just-war theorists therefore seek to clarify both: 1) the circumstances under which states are morally justified in going to war; and 2) the amounts and forms of violence that, once the battles commence, are morally acceptable.

Related Fields

Related topics include:

War

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War

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War

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Peace Preservation

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Breach of the Peace

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War Crim
es

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Peace

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War

Embracing mainstream international law, this section on war explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.

Resources

See Also

  • Foreign Affairs
  • National Defense

Resources

See Also

  • Foregin Policy
  • Foreign Affairs

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See Also

  • Defense

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Further Reading

  • The entry “war” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press

Resources

Notes and References

  1. Entry about (Ethics) Just War Theory in the Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy (2015, Routledge, Oxford, United Kingdom)

See Also

Further Reading

  • Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance (2018, Springer International Publishing, Germany)

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to War

The Legal History of War and Peace in Islamic Law

This section provides an overview of War and Peace in Islamic Law

Resources

See Also

  • Legal Biography
  • Legal Traditions
  • Historical Laws
  • History of Law

Further Reading

Hierarchical Display of War

International Relations > International security > International conflict
Law > Rights and freedoms > Anti-discriminatory measure > Religious discrimination > Religious conflict
Law > Rights and freedoms > Human rights > International human rights law > War crime
Politics > Politics and public safety > Public safety > Political violence > Civil war
International Relations > Defence > Armed forces
Economics > Economic structure > Economy > War economy
International Relations > Cooperation policy > Humanitarian aid > Search and rescue

War

Concept of War

See the dictionary definition of War.

Characteristics of War

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Resources

Translation of War

Thesaurus of War

International Relations > International security > International conflict > War
Law > Rights and freedoms > Anti-discriminatory measure > Religious discrimination > Religious conflict > War
Law > Rights and freedoms > Human rights > International human rights law > War crime > War
Politics > Politics and public safety > Public safety > Political violence > Civil war > War
International Relations > Defence > Armed forces > War
Economics > Economic structure > Economy > War economy > War
International Relations > Cooperation policy > Humanitarian aid > Search and rescue > War

See also

  • Armed conflict

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