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ProvCast Ep. 32: American Justness in War—from Independence, WWII, Vietnam, and Beyond

By Eric Patterson & Mark Melton on May 20, 2019

Just War Tradition

Eric Patterson, Ph.D., is President & CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, DC and scholar-at-large and past dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. He is also a contributing editor for Providence. His expertise, informed by time at the US Department of State and in the military, is on just war thinking, the nexus of religion and national security, and Christian Realism. He is the author or editor of 22 books, including Just American Wars, Politics in a Religious World, and Ending Wars Well.

Mark Melton was the managing editor for Providence from 2020 to 2022 and was the journal’s inaugural deputy editor from 2015 to 2020. He earned his master’s degree in international relations from the University of St. Andrews, and his bachelor’s degree in foreign language and international trade comes from Mississippi College. Prior to moving to DC, he worked as a political science adjunct professor at community colleges in Mississippi and taught English in France.

Providence is the only publication devoted to Christian Realism in American foreign policy and is primarily funded by donors who generously help keep our magazine running. If you would care to make a donation it would be highly appreciated to help Providence in advancing the Christian realist perspective in 2026. Thank you!

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