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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Uncle Sam
American Power, Interest, and Responsibility

American national interests and our willingness to spend power for global common good are more closely aligned than many seem to believe.

Moral Courage and the Grim Necessity of Sacrifice 

American audiences are still hungry for cinematic portrayals of the old virtues: patriotism, heroism, courage, and self-sacrifice

Does Can Imply Ought?

While a nation’s primary obligation is to its own citizens, our moral tradition demands that we cultivate the power to help where we can

Rings of power
The Rings of Power: The Necessity of Vigilance and the Limits of Beauty

The latest cinematic reimagining of Tolkien’s universe suggests surprising depth, presenting high adventure with ideas of enduring import

Is Remote Warfare Moral?

Providence’s Marc LiVecche speaks with Joe Chapa, his Air Force pilot, about his new book Is Remote Warfare Moral?

The Principles of Christian Realism, Part 2

Marc LiVecche outlines the Principles of Christian Realism, Part 2.

The Principles of Christian Realism, Part 1

Marc LiVecche speaks on the Principles of Christian Realism, Part 1.

The Reaper Strike on Zawahiri

The Reaper combines mission effectiveness and non-combatant immunity that is unachievable in many, if not most, battlefield scenarios.

Virtue & Uvalde

Frightened or not, the good must stand between the innocent and the wolves.

Woody Williams
Hershel “Woody” Williams: Always Faithful

The last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War 2 has died. May his memory linger long in our consciousness.