ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the concepts discussed in this book. The book focuses on the classic statement of the just war idea, which came together during the high Middle Ages and held its shape well into the modern period, until it was reshaped as the basis of a theory of international law by Hugo Grotius. The idea of just war has moved into the mainstream of American public discussion about the use of military force and the limits to be observed in using such force. The book explains the moral traditions defined and carried historically, for thinking about morality and war. Two such traditions loom large in recent debate, that of just war, the major historical tradition defined in Western culture, and that of jihad of the sword, which has the same role in the culture of Islam. The book focuses on particular cases where contemporary discussion seems to have lost track of important elements in the history.
