Study Guide: Elshtain, Jean Bethke, et. al. But Was It Just?: Reflections On The Morality Of The Persian Gulf War.

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But Was it Just? is an anthology put out in 1992, just after the Persian Gulf War. It sets up a rich conversation about the ethics of the U.S. declaration and prosecution of the war, all centering on the "just war theory." Roman Catholic thought, out of which that perspective developed, is represented by two articles, one supporting the war, the other questioning it. A similar dichotomy is clear in the essays of two Protestant ethicists. The volume is rounded out with an essay from a secular Jewish viewpoint and one by a Palestinian author in the West Bank. Though focused on a particular conflict, the discussion raises implications for the analysis of other wars investigated during the semester. It also begins an interesting debate on the usefulness of just war theory, given modern military technology and tactics.

Study Questions | Topics for Further Research | Just War Videos | Gulf War Videos | Internet Resources

Study Questions

1. Compare the two articles composed from within the Roman Catholic tradition (George Weigel's and the one that appeared in La Civiltà Cattolica).

2. Is the widely differing assessment of just war theory within Catholicism a sign of the theory's strength or weakness? Why?

3. Compare the two Protestant ethicists' analysis of the Gulf War. What areas of agreement do you find in the assessments of Bethke Elshtain and Hauerwas?

4. Where are the basic differences between their approaches?

5. To what do you attribute Sari Nusseibeh's cynicism towards just war theory? Does his critique hold water a dozen years later?

6. Michael Walzer is the most prominent academic just war theorist around. To what extent does he believe just war theory is a viable tool for "the society of states"?

7. Assess the ethical advantages and disadvantages of competing theoretical approaches to war (realism, holy war, pacifism).

8. Based on their articles in But Was it Just? how do you think each of our authors would assess the War in Iraq?

Topics for further research

1. The "Peace Churches": Mennonites, Friends (Quakers), Church of the Brethren

2. The holy war tradition in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

3. The Crusades; the Wars of Religion; the role of religion in the Irish "troubles"

4. The debate between the brothers Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr prior to World War II.

Just War Videos-on reserve at Hatfield Library

Cold Mountain (Dir. Anthony Minghella, 2003, 153 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.W3 C68 2004

The Fog of War : Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Dir. Errol Morris, 2003, 107 min) Call no.: E840.4 .F68 2004

Frontiers of Dreams and Fears (Dir. Mai Masri, 2001, 56 min.) (In Arabic with English subtitles) Call no.: DS126.954 .F76 2001

Gaza Strip (Dir. James Longley, 2002, 74 min) (In Arabic, English, and French with English subtitles) Call no.: DS119.765 G29 2002

Good Kurds, Bad Kurds (Dir. Kevin McKiernan, 2000, 79 min) Call no.: DS59.K86 G66 2000

Just War (Prod. ABC News, c2003, 22 min) Call no.: DS79.76 .J87 2003

My Beard Forever (Dir. Afif Arabi, 1999, 17 min.) (In English and Arabic with English subtitles) Call no.: E184.A65 M9 1999

Now with Bill Moyers: January 25, 2002 (Prod. WNET, New York, 2002, 60 min) Call no.: E902 .N68 2002

Uncovered :The Whole Truth about the Iraq War (Dir. Robert Greenwald, 2004, 56 min. + 34 min. bonus footage) Call no.: DS79.76 .U53 2004

The War behind Closed Doors (Prod. WGBH Frontline, 2003, 57 min.) Call no.: HV6431 .W35 2003

Gulf War Videos-on reserve at Hatfield Library

Courage Under Fire (Dir. Edward Zwick, 1996, 117 min.) Call no: PN1995.9.W3 C78 2000

The Gulf War (Prod. WGBH Frontline, 1996, ca. 2 hrs) Call no.: DS79.72 .G83 1996 v.1, v. 2

The Gulf War, What Next? (Dir. Various, 1991, 109 min) (In Arabic, with English subtitles) Call no.: PN1995.91.A8 G85 1991

Hidden Wars of Desert Storm (Dir. Gerard Ungerman & Audrey Brohy, 2000, 64 min) Call no.: DS79.72 .H53 2000

Live from Baghdad (Dir. Mick Jackson, 2002, 108 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.B55 L48 2003

Marooned in Iraq (Dir. Bahman Ghobadi, 2002, 97 min) (Kurdish dialogue with English subtitles) Call no.: PN1995.91.K8 A82 2003

Nowhere to Hide: February 2, 1991, Ramsay Clark in Iraq (1991, 27 min) Call no.: DS79.736 .N68 1991

The Secret Files: Washington, Israel and the Gulf (Prod. WETA, Washington, 1992, 60 min) Call no.: DS79.72|.S43 1992

Three Kings (Dir. David O. Russell, 1999, 115 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.A3 T44 2000