Marc LiVecche

Marc LiVecche is the McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life at Providence. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the US Naval War College, in the College of Leadership and Ethics.

Marc completed doctoral studies, earning distinction, at the University of Chicago, where he worked under the supervision of the political theorist and public intellectual Jean Bethke Elshtain, until her death in August, 2013. His first book, The Good Kill: Just War & Moral Injury, was published in 2021 by Oxford University Press. Another project, Responsibility and Restraint: James Turner Johnson and the Just War Tradition, co-edited with Eric Patterson, was published by Stone Tower Press in the fall of 2020. Currently, he is finalizing Moral Horror: A Just War Defense of Hiroshima. Before all this academic stuff, Marc spent twelve years doing a variety of things in Central Europe—ranging from helping build sport and recreational leagues in post-communist communities, to working at a Christian study and research center, to leading seminars on history and ethics onsite at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland. This latter experience allowed him to continue his undergraduate study of the Shoah; a process which rendered him entirely ill-suited for pacifism.

Marc lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and children–and a marmota monax whistlepigging under the shed. He can be followed, or stalked, on twitter @mlivecche. Additional publications can be found at his Amazon author page.

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Jim Mattis
New Rules of Engagement Help the Battle

Two changes to how we fight will allow US and coalition forces to fight both justly and to win

Michael Cromartie Speech at Providence Launch Event
Mike’s Mandate: Augustinian Sensibility

From the Newsletter: Michael Cromartie’s vision for Providence continues

Still Connected: President Trump’s Strategy for Afghanistan Warrants (Cautious) Hope

The President’s recent speech suggests he is willing to listen to wise counsel

Guadalcanal 75 Years Ago, U.S. Marines ‘Sealed Japan’s Doom’ At This Pivotal WWII Battle
75 Years Ago, U.S. Marines ‘Sealed Japan’s Doom’ At This Pivotal WWII Battle

At Guadalcanal, the Empire of Japan lost two-thirds of their 31,000-plus army troops committed to the fight. Approximately 1,600 Americans were killed.

SEAL Marc Lee Punishers
Punishers Down: The Fall of Marc Lee & Ryan Job

A review of Kevin Lacz’s The Last Punisher

transgender military fit
Trump & the Transgender Ban

From the Newsletter: It’s all a question of fitness

marines peacemakers
Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Peacemakers are not peacekeepers

Reinhold Niebuhr and the Problem of Paradox
Reinhold Niebuhr and the Problem of Paradox

Against pacifist sentiment and calls for isolationism, Reinhold Niebuhr insisted on a realistic Christian response to political crises, one willing to dirty its hands to avoid catastrophic evil. However, his dialectic between love and justice produces a catastrophic paradox.

American Revolution July 4th Just War
Was the American Revolutionary War Just?

America has been a force for extraordinary good in the world. Is it possible her origins are more morally complex than generally imagined?

Molly Pitcher American Revolution
Girl Fight: Molly Pitcher at the American Revolution

At the Battle of Monmouth, she took over for a fallen soldier and worked a cannon against the enemy. She attracted the attention of George Washington–and a nation forever grateful.