TY - JOUR
T1 - Justice in Asymmetric Wars
T2 - A contractarian analysis
AU - Benbaji, Yitzhak
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - This Article aims to extend contractarianism in just war theory to the case of asymmetric war of independence. Its main thesis is that within asymmetric wars, the traditional rule of noncombatant immunity has no contractarian justification: It systematically discriminates against the weak part to the conflict, and thus it is unfair. On the other hand, a rule that allows those who take themselves to be freedom fighters to threaten civic life, yet prohibits deliberately targeting individuals, is fair and mutually beneficial. The branch of the war convention I called justice in asymmetric war instructs militants to treat civilians as if they bear no personal responsibility for the evil that their society causes.
AB - This Article aims to extend contractarianism in just war theory to the case of asymmetric war of independence. Its main thesis is that within asymmetric wars, the traditional rule of noncombatant immunity has no contractarian justification: It systematically discriminates against the weak part to the conflict, and thus it is unfair. On the other hand, a rule that allows those who take themselves to be freedom fighters to threaten civic life, yet prohibits deliberately targeting individuals, is fair and mutually beneficial. The branch of the war convention I called justice in asymmetric war instructs militants to treat civilians as if they bear no personal responsibility for the evil that their society causes.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84881596723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/1938-2545.1072
DO - 10.1515/1938-2545.1072
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AN - SCOPUS:84881596723
SN - 1938-2545
VL - 6
SP - 172
EP - 200
JO - Law and Ethics of Human Rights
JF - Law and Ethics of Human Rights
IS - 2
ER -