Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations

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Summary: metropolitan vs communitarian
Review: Politics get their names because usually they don't say anything they mean. This might be true for Realism or Liberalism, but not for normative theories like Walzer or Beitz. (by the way, you might want to read Charles Beitz's "political theory and international relations" along with this book.) While I don't necessarily agree with Walzer on his ideas, he definitely did a good job by telling you a perspective from normative theory perspective, which is not just acknowledging the world as it is, but to go a little bit deeper talking about what the world should be.

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Summary: Great insight
Review: Professor Michael Walzer examines just war theory in a clear, methodical and rigorous fashion. Concrete examples clarify and flesh out the theory. It covers not just conventional warfare, but also several offshoots that have become much more relevant since the 1950: peacetime reprisals, guerrilla warfare, and terrorism. In addition, he dissects the notions of "war crimes" and official/bureaucrat/citizen responsibility for war. These analyses are especially useful as today's violent conflicts become more fragmented and in some ways "messier". Walzer's viewpoint is definitely from a left-of-center perspective (not *far* left), but I think people of any political persuasion would find reading it to be extremely insightful. He doesn't shy away from controversy yet his arguments are always well-reasoned. Highly recommended to both the layman and political scientist/philosopher, especially as we enter the uncertainty of the post-9/11 world.

Rating:
Summary: Great insight
Review: Professor Michael Walzer examines just war theory in a clear, methodical and rigorous fashion. Concrete examples clarify and flesh out the theory. It covers not just conventional warfare, but also several offshoots that have become much more relevant since the 1950: peacetime reprisals, guerrilla warfare, and terrorism. In addition, he dissects the notions of "war crimes" and official/bureaucrat/citizen responsibility for war. These analyses are especially useful as today's violent conflicts become more fragmented and in some ways "messier". Walzer's viewpoint is definitely from a left-of-center perspective (not *far* left), but I think people of any political persuasion would find reading it to be extremely insightful. He doesn't shy away from controversy yet his arguments are always well-reasoned. Highly recommended to both the layman and political scientist/philosopher, especially as we enter the uncertainty of the post-9/11 world.

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Summary: According to this book, Israel is always right
Review: Serious problems with this book include its extremely biased approach of upholding all of Israel's actions as "Just", while making all German actions of WWII look like they were connected with war crimes. Basic premise of the book is that Israeli actions are always right, German and PLO actions are completely wrong, and that the Walzer's view of things is the only valid argument in the world. Extremely biased. The victor truly does decide the justness and "unjustness" of war, and Walzer can only take the Israeli side or the anti-American side of most arguments.

Rating:
Summary: According to this book, Israel is always right
Review: Serious problems with this book include its extremely biased approach of upholding all of Israel's actions as "Just", while making all German actions of WWII look like they were connected with war crimes. Basic premise of the book is that Israeli actions are always right, German and PLO actions are completely wrong, and that the Walzer's view of things is the only valid argument in the world. Extremely biased. The victor truly does decide the justness and "unjustness" of war, and Walzer can only take the Israeli side or the anti-American side of most arguments.

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Summary: Considering: the Problem of a Confiscated Democracy
Review: The problem of just vs unjust war is an aspect of democracy that especially comes forth in its urgency at the present time.
This might then be the most important book for reading at this historical moment. Yet, it is only part of the trajectory of Walzer's concern with democracy vs the programmed decline or even death of democracy in countries where democracy seemed so basic to the self definition of nations. Interestingly enough LaMonde Diplomatique in an article entitled "A Quiet Totalitarianism" begins with reference to the writing of Michael Walzer. Why? Because Walzer is among the first to identify a crisis in liberal democracy in America, but also paradoxically precisely in those countries where certain other of the democratic practices were firs installed. His work throughout is like a beam of light the shows the transformation of the political, moral, and philosophical basis of democracy: we see the symptoms in the recent American presidential election, the changing intervention of the Supreme court but those who wish to guard democracy must read Walzer also to understand the changing, often hidden, but real shift in the social contract that is occuring.

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Summary: Excellent analysis of moral issues raised by war
Review: This book is superb. Among other topics, it considers the morality of initiating armed force, the moral limits on the use of force in wartime, and individual responsibiity for war crimes. The writing is very clear and the use of historical examples brings the philosophical discussion down to earth.

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Summary: As a cadet at West Point, I read this in 1991
Review: This book was required reading in philosophy class when I was a sophomore at West Point. I recently pulled the book out of storage to review it. Was our invasion of Afghanistan a "Just War"? Would an invasion of Iraq be a "Just War"? It covers more about war than just these topics (and not specifically these actions), and it reveals that just and unjust war/fighting is not always so easy to define.

Rating:
Summary: As a cadet at West Point, I read this in 1991
Review: This book was required reading in philosophy class when I was a sophomore at West Point. I recently pulled the book out of storage to review it. Was our invasion of Afghanistan a "Just War"? Would an invasion of Iraq be a "Just War"? It covers more about war than just these topics (and not specifically these actions), and it reveals that just and unjust war/fighting is not always so easy to define.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best texts on political ethics....
Review: This book, which Walzer did write as a polemic against the Vietnam War (something that many other people did at the same time) is one of the seminal texts in the often maligned discourse (atleast by Americans) regarding international political ethics. For what it is, it is a valuable book: Walzer is an erudite scholar who possesses a substantial knowledge of his material and a command of his subject. Perhaps it would be a bit dry if you were forced to read it-- but then, what isn't?

For what this book is-- an attempt to summarize the ways throughout time and to make them relevant for its time (i.e. twenty five years ago) this is a powerful book. Now-- as to being a text for a European history class......