How to End a War
Essays on Justice, Peace, and Repair

Treats the challenges of moving from a state of war to post-war as central to military ethics, strategy, and law.

Graham Parsons (Edited by), Mark Wilson (Edited by)

9781108994859, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 May 2025

246 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.362 kg

'How to End a War is worthwhile reading for its new perspectives on jus ex bello and jus post bellum, the integral view on just war theory (where the different branches are intimately connected), and for highlighting the links between the theory and related issues that are equally important for the justice of ending wars. In this way, the volume also draws much needed attention to the experiences of the combatants that we send to war.' Ethics and International Affairs

How and when should we end a war? What place should the pathways to a war's end have in war planning and decision-making? This volume treats the topic of ending war as part and parcel of how wars begin and how they are fought – a unique, complex problem, worthy of its own conversation. New essays by leading thinkers and practitioners in the fields of philosophical ethics, international relations, and military law reflect on the problem and show that it is imperative that we address not only the resolution of war, but how and if a war as waged can accommodate a future peace. The essays collectively solidify the topic and underline its centrality to the future of military ethics, strategy, and war.

Introduction: 'the ethics of war after the longest war' Graham Parsons and Mark Wilson
1. 'The lament of the demobilized' Cheyney Ryan
2. 'Moral injury and moral failure' Lisa Tessman 3. 'Stoic grit, moral injury and resilience' Nancy Sherman
4. 'Political humiliation and the sense of replacement' Nir Eisikovits
5. 'Minimum moral thresholds at war's end' Colleenmurphy
6. 'Endling endless wars' Alex J. Bellamy
7. 'Forever wars: time and value in war' David Rodin
8. 'Two conceptions of the proportionality budget for Jus Ex Bello' Darrel Moellendorf
9. 'Toward a post bellum lieber code' Daniel Maurer
10. 'Reconciliation is justice – and a strategy for military victory' Daniel Philpott
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International humanitarian law [LBBS], Theory of warfare & military science [JWA], Warfare & defence [JW], Social & political philosophy [HPS]