Michael Walzer

The Politics of Rescue

Biden fears escalation; this plays into the hands of Putin, the former KGB operative, who exploits the West’s moral weakness with both cunning and barbarism.

Force Short of War and Jus ad Vim
Force Short of War and Jus ad Vim

Force-short-of-war raises many moral questions, and jus ad vim has been an attempt to provide answers.

Christian Realists, not Political Sectarians - Partisanship Politics
Christian Realists, not Political Sectarians

Pure partisanship—or political sectarianism—consists of commitment to an uncontested view of reality and fidelity to one’s ideological compatriots over the whole of one’s polity. Christian realists should not be such partisans.

What Power Still Gets Wrong on Humanitarian Intervention: A Book Review of Samantha Power’s The Education of An Idealist
What Power Still Gets Wrong on Humanitarian Intervention: A Review of Samantha Power’s The Education of An Idealist

In “The Education of an Idealist,” Samantha Power comes across as a compassionate person with generous impulses. These attributes cannot by themselves determine policy on the question of humanitarian interventions.

“Never Again” Are Fighting Words
“Never Again” Are Fighting Words

What will be lost to many—including too many Christians—is the fact that this pledge of “never again” is, if it is to mean anything at all, a promise to fight if, in the last resort and with the aim of peace, nothing else will protect the innocent, requite an injustice, or punish evil.

THE ROLE OF MORALITY IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
The Role of Morality in International Politics

What is the role of moral values in the conduct of foreign relations? Although many answers have been given, three major traditions predominate: realism, idealism, and principled realism.

MORAL VALUES IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION: Review of Ignatieff’s The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World
Moral Values in an Era of Globalization: Review of Ignatieff’s The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World

Even though people may not rely on universal human rights rhetoric to guide their specific decisions, Ignatieff argues that the structure of global human rights has contributed indirectly to global solidarity by providing a foundation for people’s ordinary virtues.

Covert Operations: Just War or Dirty Hands?
Covert Operations: Just War or Dirty Hands?

Two Christian schools of thought might support covert operations and espionage: the just war tradition and a kind of “dirty hands” moralism. The dirty hands view says all those in political power must unavoidably resort to evil for the common good. The just war tradition has a different approach.

Just War & National Honor: The Case of Vietnam
Just War & National Honor: The Case of Vietnam

Just war theorizing has typically left the issue of national honor untouched, although warriors and statesmen routinely emphasize the importance of vindicating the sacrifice of the fallen. Does prolonging a war in order to assuage or vindicate national honor comport with the just war tradition?

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