Is Just War Theory still relevant to war and war fighting in the world today? Are the criteria of Just Cause, Right Intent, Legitimate Authority, and Proportionality, and Last Resort tools to restrain nations from going to war, or have these principles been twisted into excuses for going to war. This is part of the argument Pope Leo XIV makes in his recent Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in which he is reported to say that Just War Theory is outdated. Is this true? If so, what does it mean? That is the subject of this episode of The Ancient Art of Modern Warfare.

References:

• Leo XVI P.P., Magnifica Humanitas:On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html
• U.S. Department of Defense, The Department of Defense Law of War Manual (June 2015, Updated July 2023), https://media.defense.gov/2023/Jul/31/2003271432/-1/-1/0/DOD-LAW-OF-WAR-MANUAL-JUNE-2015-UPDATED-JULY%202023.PDF

Music: Wagner, R. and the USMC Band, Siegfried’s Funeral (Public Domain)