ABSTRACT
Armed conflicts are an element of the inconveniences of international life. Wars might erupt even in an international community consisting of decent states that respect each other’s rights. The simple explanation for this prediction is two-staged. States may have conflicting interests, but they live in a society that has no clear, authoritative structure within which entitlements can be established and enforced. Second, decent states are partial: when in conflict of interests, they tend to favor themselves and are especially vulnerable to errors in determining the content and scope of their defensive rights. In particular, states may sincerely believe that they are entitled to use force in defense of their interests where, in fact, no such right obtains. The war they sincerely believe to be just is, in effect, a mere act of aggression.
