Summer 2017

Revising or Applying the Just War Tradition? Review of Dubik’s Just War Reconsidered
Revising or Applying the Just War Tradition? Review of Dubik’s Just War Reconsidered

James M. Dubik’s argument in Just War Reconsidered is straightforward: current just war theorizing is insufficient insofar as it “omits a major part of the conduct of war.” A “new addition” to jus in bello theory is urgently needed.

Reading Augustine
Reading Augustine

Augustine’s influence runs deep and broad through Western Christian doctrine and ethics. This paper focuses on two particular examples of this influence: his thinking on political order and on just war.

Serving God or Caesar: Sergeant Alvin York and the Morality of War
Serving God or Caesar: Sergeant York and the Morality of War

Surrounded by the reality of war and death during WWI in France, Sergeant Alvin York finally made up his mind about Christianity and the morality of war.

In Response: Love, War, & Honey Traps
In Response: Love, War, and Honey Traps

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba—all strong-willed women with clever minds, courageous hearts, and, not incidentally, pleasing forms—are listed in the genealogy of Jesus. Those four women, along with Queen Esther, were not only heroic and notable for their cleverness and courage. They were also involved in somewhat risqué escapades. In our day, they would be thought of as women with a past.

Sex, Lies, and Spies
Sex, Lies, and Spies

We can make a clear and convincing case that the Christian tradition may support the idea that lies told for the public good are justifiable. When spies tell such lies in the line of duty, their deceptions fall into that category and, so, are justifiable. Can the same be said for sex in the line of duty?

When Deterrence Simply Will Not Work: The Case of Job
When Deterrence Simply Will Not Work: The Case of Job

As the Book of Job illustrates, there are those who simply cannot be deterred from particular behaviors or compelled to “change one’s mind”.

Never Surrender: Movie Review of Dunkirk
Never Surrender: Review of Dunkirk

The historic event grounding Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk involved a military crisis that was, in its beginning, as dark, desperate, and seemingly hopeless as it was extraordinary, full of heroism, and even miraculous in its conclusion. Whether his film captures any of that sufficiently is an open question.

Missile Defense: Insurance Against Mistakes, Miscalculation, and Madmen
Missile Defense: Insurance Against Mistakes, Miscalculation, and Madmen

As the number of missile-wielding states grows and as the nuclear club expands, the likelihood of a missile being unleashed against the American people or their allies—whether by mistake, miscalculation, or a madman—also grows. Missile defense doesn’t eliminate the danger, but it does give us a fighting chance to confront it.

What Ever Happened to the Left-Right Divide on Foreign Trade?
What Ever Happened to the Left-Right Divide on Foreign Trade?

They agreed. At least on the single issue of foreign trade, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agreed the United States must retreat from free trade agreements. In the midst of the most polarized presidential election in living memory, both major party candidates converged on the need to reconsider American-led globalization and take a more protectionist stand in foreign markets.