The legal regulation of warfare involves an ever-present tension between idealism and realism, between imagining a more perfect arrangement for human affairs and making peace with the reality that war is, in some cases, inevitable. In this stimulating and provocative book, Haque deftly combines close legal analysis about the current state of international law with philosophical insights on how it ... Read moreshould evolve. Few scholars have such an impressive command of both domains and the insight and daring to combine them so effectively.
Jens David Ohlin, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School, USA
This book is the single best work to date on the relation between the morality of war and the law of war. Over the past two decades many of the elements of the traditional theory of the just war have been effectively subverted by philosophical criticism. Because this theory has been assumed to provide a moral foundation for the contemporary law of war, international lawyers have been under pressure either to rebut the objections, supply new moral foundations for existing law, or reinterpret or revise the law to render it compatible with our best understanding of the morality of war. Haque's exceptionally brilliant book combines and defends responses of all three types in seeking to bring law and morality into closer congruence. It is a masterpiece of both legal theory and moral philosophy.
Jeff McMahan, White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Oxford
This superb book asks how morality and law can get a purchase on the violence of war. Law and Morality at War combines philosophical sophistication with a deep knowledge of the law, and that makes it uniquely valuable. In the past decade, philosophers have subjected the so-called just war theory to searching examination, with results that are sometimes startling. At the same time, seemingly endless wars in the Middle East have forced lawyers to confront new and intricate legal questions. All too often the two tracks of philosophy and law ignore each other. Haque is one of the few scholars with the skill, breadth of knowledge, and human wisdom to bring them together. The book is a major contribution that ought to attract readers both in and outside the academy.
David Luban, University Professor, Georgetown Law
Adil Ahmad Haque's Law and Morality at War is a significant moment in the contemporary debate on just-war theory on the morality of law. It offers an elegant 'third way' between the traditional account of IHL as reflective of morality and the revisionist account of IHL as directly contradicting fundamental moral concepts - a system that is only defensible, at best, as a pragmatic concession. In doing so, Haque displays a rare command - among international lawyers writing in the just-war tradition - of philosophical literature, analytic method and legal reasoning.
Eliav Lieblich, European Journal of International Law
Law and Morality at War is a must read for anyone working on war with an interest in theory. ... Haque's sharp, careful writing is a pleasure to read. He does a great job in guiding readers through thorny questions, with clarity, subtlety, and rigor, keeping it interesting and, at times, being intellectually quite fun. I have also found the book to be a fantastic teaching resource, confronting students with important challenges, clear analysis, and provocative arguments.
Alejandro Chehtman, Criminal Law and Philosophy
Adil Ahmad Haque's book ... showcases interdisciplinary scholarship at its best.
Janina Dill, International Affairs
Few scholars have contributed as much to recent debates about the ethics of war as Haque, and Law and Morality at War continues in this fine tradition, touching on everything from the principle of proportionality to the targeting of human shields. Straddling the moral and legal divide, Haque succeeds in correcting the misperceptions that many moral philosophers have about the law, including the presumption that it permits combatants to fight for an unjust cause when it really only immunises them against prosecution. Haque also sets out a number of ways that the law could be improved and his suggestions are often pretty radical.
Thomas Gregory, Millennium: Journal of International Studies
Adil Ahmad Haque's Law and Morality at War is a significant moment in the contemporary debate on just-war theory on the morality of law. It offers an elegant 'third way' between the traditional account of IHL as reflective of morality and the revisionist account of IHL as directly contradicting fundamental moral concepts - a system that is only defensible, at best, as a pragmatic concession. In doing so, Haque displays a rare command - even among international lawyers writing in the just-war tradition of philosophical literature, analytic method and legal reasoning.
Eliav Lieblich, European Journal of International Law
Adil Ahmad Haque's Law and Morality at War is thus a crucial advance in both fields, drawing on Haque's expertise in both the ethics of war and international law to illuminate the relationship between law and morality.
Helen Frowe, Ethics (Symposium)
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