Distributive Justice, Human Rights, and Territorial Integrity

This essay is concerned with two related, and yet importantly distinct, questions: why only wars of national defense should be legally permissible, in light of the fact that, on the face of it, the deep morality that governs international relations implies that there are many other (possibly stronger) candidates for casus belli. The second question pertains to the special status of territorial integrity in contemporary international law: why is it legally permissible to wage wars whose purpose is defending the borders of legitimate states, even in circumstances in which those borders are unjustly drawn and do not protect any other important rights or values? It is argued that the Charter’s jus ad bellum might be morally valid if it embodies a fair contract to which states actually subject themselves.