POL S 403 A
Advanced Seminar in International Relations
Law, Ethics, and War (Autumn 2025)
Course Description
How do law and ethics inform the onset, conduct, and aftermath of armed conflict? For as long as there have been wars, theorists, leaders, soldiers, and civilians alike have grappled with the extent to which legal and ethical considerations affect any or all stages in the resort to military force. This course will explore the just war theory tradition and the related laws of war, originating with philosophers from antiquity and evolving through to thinkers in the contemporary era. What constitutes a “just cause” permitting or even necessitating the raising of arms and confrontation in large-scale organized violence? How can combatants engage in “just conduct” when wielding such violence where they are oftentimes seeking to kill or main the adversary on and off the battlefield? Once the fighting stops, how can erstwhile enemies achieve a “just peace”? And across each of these questions, in what ways are what is “legal” and what is “ethical” mutually reinforcing or in tension? These issues remain all the more relevant in the present moment as conflicts between and within states challenge members of the international community large and small over what is right or wrong, what is legal or illegal. Throughout the course, students will engage a variety of thinkers on the law and ethics of armed conflict, and apply core ideas and arguments to historical and more recent armed conflicts.
Course Requirements
Students are expected to attend all lectures and meetings of their quiz section.
Final grades for the course are determined by the following components:
- Short Paper #1 (10%)
- Short Paper #2 (10%)
- In-Class Debate #1 (10%)
- In-Class Debate #2 (10%)
- Participation (25%)
- Final Group Project (35%)