Just or Unjust War in Libya

Abstract

On the 19th of March a multi-nation coalition initiated a military intervention in Libya implementing United Nations Security Council's resolution 1973. Ever since debate continues about the justifiability of this intervention. This thesis examines from an ethical perspective whether the 'humanitarian intervention' in Libya was justified. Relying mostly on Michael Walzer's famous Just and Unjust Wars, mainly supported by ideas of Richard Norman's 'Respect for Life, Gerald Postema's 'Private and Collective Values', and Theo van Willigenburg's account on the relation between identity and state, this thesis offers a conception of Just War theory. This conception of Just War theory should reflect our contemporary moral convictions regarding the morality of war and, therefore, should be able to come to a reasonable, coherent, and relevant answer on the justifiability of the humanitarian intervention in Libya. After an extensive treatise on the morality of war this thesis ultimately concludes that the humanitarian intervention in Libya was morally justified.