EXTENDING JUST WAR THEORY: THE JUS AD BELLUM AND THE CAPABILITIES APPROACH TO ARMED CONFLICT

Abstract

As the nature of armed conflict continues to change, so the living ethical tradition
that is just war theory has to adapt to meet new challenges. This paper offers a
proposal for extending just war theory by incorporating into its framework a human
capabilities-based ethic drawn from the work of Martha Nussbaum. This new
approach is analysed in the light of two important recent challenges to just war
theory: David Rodin’s critique of the principle of national defence, and the emerging
doctrine of humanitarian intervention. While the results of this analysis can only be
considered to be preliminary, the authors argue that indications are that
supplementing just war theory with Nussbaum’s human capabilities-based ethic, or
something similar, could yield significant benefits for the ethical analysis of
contemporary armed conflicts.