Rethinking Jus Post Bellum in an Age of Global Transitional Justice: Engaging with Michael Walzer and Larry May

Abstract

Taking Michael Walzer's and Larry May's reflections on jus post bellum as a point of departure, I explore here some of the limits of what might be called the inherited notion of jus post bellum. I then articulate a broader perspective for jus post bellum, influenced by thinking on transitional justice. I argue that, given the nature of modern warfare and the evident shift to wars of humanitarian intervention, the contemporary understanding is no longer limited to restorative ex post justice, but must also include forward-looking aims, and for this purpose the discourse of transitional justice is better suited.