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COPYRIGHT 2008 Professors World Peace Academy
"What Constitutes the Legitimate Use of Force?" is a thorny and much debated question in modern political theory and just war doctrine. Under what conditions is the use of force moral? When is it immoral? How much force is enough? What is excessive use of force? Do some types of governments, by virtue of their structure, have a greater right to use force than others? How much force against individuals should be allowed to secure some greater good? The articles in this issue each address this issue of the legitimate use of force, directly or indirectly, from a variety of perspectives.
Use of force by peacekeepers
Since World War II, and especially after the Cold War, intra-state conflicts have escalated as tribal, national, cultural, and ideological groups have sought to commandeer the power of the state for their own purposes. This has led to increased pressure to send in United Nations peacekeeping forces into areas of conflict within states to prevent violence and genocide. The United Nations is a relatively recent creation and its international peacekeeping, where soldiers from third-party states are sent to keep peace between warring groups, is a non-traditional role for soldiers.
Our first article, by Paolo Tripodi looks at...
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