ABSTRACT
Asthisbookgoestopress,earlyin2003,afiercedebateistakingplaceinthe WesternworldastowhetheranAmerican-ledattackonIraqwouldconstitutea justwar. 1Notmerelydozens,buthundreds,ofnewspaperandmagazinearticles haveappearedarguingthemoralcasesforandagainst.2Theargumentsonboth sideshaverunthegamutfromarcanelegalviewstopracticalassessmentsofthe consequencesofasecondwaragainstIraq.Itisveryclearfromthisdebatethat thereisnointellectualconsensusonwhatrulesapplytosuchmoralconsiderations, andyetthereisnear-universalacceptancethatsomesortofthresholdmustbemet priortowar.AcrosstheWesternworld,theoristsarebreathingnewlifeintoanold traditionofthought,andforthefirsttimearealsoseriouslyconsideringthe alternateperspectivesofotherculturesinestablishingtherulesofjustwar.
