Issue 31.4
Winter 2017 (Issue 31.4)
We are pleased to announce the publication of the Fall 2017 issue of Ethics & International Affairs! This issue contains essays by Jonathan D. Caverley on how to slow the proliferation of major conventional weapons and Janos Pasztor on why international governance of geoengineering is so desperately needed; a roundtable on the overlapping relationship between the laws and the ethics of war, with contributions from David Luban, Valerie Morkevicius, James Turner Johnson, and Edward Barrett; a feature by Christopher J. Preston comparing the moral culpability of a carbon emitter versus that of a benevolent climate engineer, with responses from Holly Lawford-Smith, Sikina Jinnah and Douglas Bushey, and Mike Hulme; and book reviews from Michael Goodhart, Ryan Jenkins, Sophie Rosenberg, Anna Stilz, and Matt Zwolinski.
Slowing the Proliferation of Major Conventional Weapons: The Virtues of an Uncompetitive Market
Proliferation of major conventional weapons (MCW) is at best a waste of valuable resources and at worst fuel for more and bloodier conflicts. In this essay, Jonathan D. Caverley shows how the United States, pursuing its own political interests, leverages its massive market power to slow the proliferation of MCW.
The Need for Governance of Climate Geoengineering
In this essay, Janos Pasztor explains some of the major ethical issues surrounding geoengineering and introduces the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative, a major new effort to catalyze conversation on geoengineering governance, bringing together players from a wide range of social, geographical, and professional backgrounds.
Introduction: The Roles of International Law and Just War Theory
This roundtable explores the complex relationship between the laws of war and just war theory, and emphasizes the continuing importance of maintaining parallel ethical and legal conversations on how wars should be fought.
Just War Theory and the Laws of War as Nonidentical Twins
In this essay, David Luban examines the similarities, but even more the dissimilarities, between just war theory and the laws of war. Specifically, he argues that, unlike just war theory, the laws of war require binary, on-off answers, come in packages, and are often detached from their original rationale.
Looking Inward Together: Just War Thinking and Our Shared Moral Emotions
In this essay Valerie Morkevicius argues that just war thinking serves a social and psychological role that international law cannot fill. Law is dispassionate and objective, while just war thinking accounts for emotions and the situatedness of individuals. She proposes four ways that just war thinking can move beyond the law by focusing on moral emotions.
A Practically Informed Morality of War: Just War, International Law, and a Changing World Order
Just war, international law, and world order are all historically conditioned realities that interrelate with one another in complex ways. This essay explores their historical development and current status while critically examining their interrelationship.
On the Relationship Between the Ethics and the Law of War: Cyber Operations and Sublethal Harm
This essay examines the 2013 Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare in order to illustrate the importance of both ethical and legal perspectives on norms governing the initiation and conduct of a new form of interstate conflict.
