Who May Fight Just Wars?
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Who May Fight Just Wars? Right Authority for States and Non-States A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Oren J. Litwin Master of Arts George Mason University, 2010 Bachelor of Arts Yeshiva University, 2006 Director: Char R. Miller, Professor Department of Political Science Fall Semester 2014 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright © 2014 by Oren J. Litwin. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my wife Diane, to my parents, and to the memory of Dr. Frances Harbour, who encouraged me to pursue this topic and gave critical support and advice up to the end. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would have been far inferior (if it would have existed at all) without the input of many different people over several years. Dr. Frances Harbour was my original dissertation committee chair; it was in her Ethics in IR class that the nucleus of this argument first took shape, and she strongly encouraged me to turn it into my dissertation and was a great support during the early "flailing around" phase of theory development. Dr. Char Miller agreed to step in as chair when Dr. Harbour passed away, and he and my other committee members have supported me despite imperfect circumstances and the difficulties of working remotely. Dr. Eric McGlinchey and Dr. Jo-Marie Burt in particular guided my engagement with the Comparative Politics subfield, the main concepts of which mark this dissertation in fundamental ways; I owe them both a great intellectual debt. Dr. David Wilsford was my academic advisor during much of my time at GMU and taught me much. Peg Koback was a lifesaver during my rocky dissertation-writing process, helping me navigate the administrative shoals and come out safely. My father, Todd Litwin, played a key role in the development of this dissertation; most of the concepts found within were hammered out during many, many late-night discussions we shared while doing the dishes. I am grateful for his wisdom and for his continual focus on drilling down to the fundamentals. Dr. Diana Dunham-Scott gave me valuable feedback during the early days of theory development, and suggested the Moro insurgency as a case, for which I am very grateful. And finally, acharon acharon chaviv, thank you to Diane, my incredible wife. She believed in me throughout the bleakest points of writing this dissertation, and carried me through to its end. Je t'aime, mon amour. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... viii! Abstract............................................................................................................................... x! Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1! What is Just War Theory?............................................................................................... 3! The Problem ................................................................................................................ 6! Objectives and Limitations ............................................................................................. 8! Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................... 9! Plan of Dissertation....................................................................................................... 11! Chapter Two: Right Authority, a Literature Review ........................................................ 20! Conventional Just War Theory...................................................................................... 22! Is the State Special? A Brief Survey of Political Legitimacy ....................................... 30! Non-State Right Authority ............................................................................................ 39! The Western tradition of Just War Theory.................................................................... 54! Summing Up ................................................................................................................. 67! Chapter Three: Self-Defense, War, and Discrimination................................................... 70! Literature Review of Discrimination ............................................................................ 73! Self-Defense.................................................................................................................. 83! What's the Point?........................................................................................................... 92! Self-Defense or War?.................................................................................................... 96! War as a Class ............................................................................................................. 100! The Distinctive Character of Self-Defense.............................................................. 103! The Role of Expectation and Threat in McMahan .................................................. 104! War Against Groups, A Literature Review................................................................. 113! A Thought Experiment............................................................................................ 124! War Against Groups—the Theory .............................................................................. 126! Summary of Agency-Freedom Theory.................................................................... 131! v Nonuniformed Members ......................................................................................... 132! The Importance of Cohesion ................................................................................... 134! Illustration: Child Soldiers .......................................................................................... 135! Thought Experiment: American Military Personnel................................................... 139! Practical Implications.................................................................................................. 142! Conclusion: Group Stereotyping and Right Authority................................................ 144! Chapter Four: Standing................................................................................................... 147! Different Kinds of Standing........................................................................................ 148! War Without the Need for Endorsement..................................................................... 154! Acquiring Standing as a Dynamic Process ................................................................. 157! An Aside on Self-Defense....................................................................................... 160! Back to Gaining (And Losing) Standing................................................................. 162! Conclusion................................................................................................................... 163! Chapter Five: Discipline ................................................................................................. 166! Private Military Contractors, A Brief Literature Review............................................ 172! Why Discipline? A Brief Literature Review............................................................... 177! What Grounds the Principle of Discipline? ................................................................ 184! Reciprocal Obligations of Discipline ...................................................................... 190! Self-Discipline............................................................................................................. 192! Requirements of Self-Discipline ............................................................................. 194! Illustration: Mercenaries ............................................................................................. 199! Conclusion................................................................................................................... 204! Chapter Six: Case Study—The Moros of Mindanao...................................................... 208! Historical Overview .................................................................................................... 208! Taking Stock of the Situation in 1996......................................................................... 213! Standing................................................................................................................... 215! Discipline................................................................................................................. 218! Post-1996..................................................................................................................... 220! Taking Stock of Post-1996.......................................................................................... 223! Conclusion................................................................................................................... 225! Chapter Seven: Case Study—The Autodefensas of Mexico .......................................... 227! Emergence of the Autodefensas.................................................................................. 227! vi Taking Stock of the Autodefensas .............................................................................. 233! Autodefensas, Phase Two ..........................................................................................