3 - Moral Theory
Summary
UNICEF called today [11 April 2011] for an immediate end to the siege of Misrata [Libya], warning that tens of thousands of children were at risk in the conflict-ridden city. UNICEF said that intensified fighting and indiscriminate shelling has led to an increased number of children being killed in Misrata, with many others lacking food and safe water, and traumatised from the atrocities they have witnessed.
UNICEF Press Centre (2011)The Security Council [on 17 March 2011] … Expressing its determination to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian populated areas [in Libya] … Demands the immediate establishment of a cease-fire and a complete end to violence and all attacks against, and abuses of, civilians … Authorizes Member States … to take all necessary measures … to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack …
Security Council Resolution 1973 (2011)This news note from the UNICEF Press Centre about armed conflict in Libya illustrates, lamentably, the extreme destructiveness of armed conflicts. It might seem odd to start a chapter entitled ‘Moral Theory’ with a particular case of armed conflict. But a main thesis is that just war theory is interrelated intrinsically both with general moral principles and particular cases.
To counterbalance overemphasis of the just cause principle, I am emphasising the last resort, proportionality and noncombatant immunity principles. In the preceding chapter, the idea of last resort is featured. For the sake of concreteness, this chapter features the idea of noncombatant immunity.
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- Information
- The Ethics of Armed ConflictA Cosmopolitan Just War Theory, pp. 48 - 76Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2014