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Just War Crimes

Decent Essays

1. What is a Just War? When is it justifiable for nations to used organized violence against other nations or terrorist groups?

The central claim of just war theorists is that war is a bad thing, but under certain circumstances, it may be justified or even obligatory. They believe, that there must be some constrains on the conduct of war. In other words, just war theory states, that the use of force must be regulated by a set of mutually agreed rules of combat. Just war theory is built on principles of just cause and just means which were eventually developed into the laws of war and that are enforced by military and civilian courts. Just cause refers to the possible justifications for going to war. Just means refers to the limits of what …show more content…

What was the purpose of trying Nazi war criminals?
Bringing Nazi criminals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice was the purpose of trying them. The trials were held to deter similar crimes in the future.
3. The US and other countries had knowledge of the NAZI genocide against the Jews and other groups but did not act to prevent it. Why do you think that this was the case? Why have the nations of the world failed to act to prevent all genocide since the Holocaust?
In case of the Holocaust the Allies couldn’t do much militarily to stop Hitler from killing Jews at the beginning of the war. They lacked the air power or soldiers in Europe. The details of what was going on at the concentration camps didn’t come out until 1944.

Genocide is difficult to foresee and plan feasible intervention options. It is almost impossible to know until after the fact, whether one of the sides of the conflict would turn to mass murders and genocide. It is hard to see if the massacres are one-sided or mutual. Many inside conflicts within the states are hard for international community to understand and interpret in order for them to be properly addressed. For example, recent genocide in Syria is a very complicated issue. In spite of the lethal crimes of it has committed, it is unclear whether bringing down the Assad regime would stop the violence, or only further contribute to chaos and …show more content…

Not witnessing the active public support of humanitarian action and domestic pressure, politicians choose to stay away from difficult political and ethical dilemmas of foreign policy that could potentially damage their reputation. This is why humanitarian disasters are rarely being addressed and prevented, in spite of tragic lessons of Holocaust and other humanitarian disasters.

4. What do you think are the causes of genocide?
Territorial states often consist of different cultural, ethnic, religious and racial groups. Conflicts between such groups, as well as conflicts between such groups and the majority group, struggles for dominance or independence, real or perceived injustice could lead to genocide. Struggle for access to limited economic resources could also lead to genocide. Rapid political changes, instability, systemic crises as well as wars also create conditions under which genocides are more

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