World Affairs
Book Details

Righteous Violence

The ethics and politics of military intervention

Tony Coady and Michael O'Keefe (eds)

This topical book asks whether it is ethical to intervene militarily in humanitarian crises, particularly when they occur in nation states alienated from the international community.

Opinion

“Righteous Violence is both enlightening and entertaining notwithstanding its tragic subject matter.
Although the authors did not set themselves the ambitious goal of defining the conditions in which intervention is justified or legitmated, they have certainly shown the complexity of the moral and legal questions encountered in such situations and thereby prevented anyone from thinking there are simple or straightforward answers. Righteous Violence is highly recommended.”
Dr Tom Frame, Defender, Autumn 2006

“Not a book of easy answers but a rewarding collection of hard questions posed by experienced policy advisors.”
John Uhr, Canberra Times, 9/7/05

About this Title

When--if ever--is military intervention in the affairs of a sovereign nation ethically justifiable?

From the end of World War II until the mid-1990s, military intervention was largely rejected on moral, political and legal grounds. In recent years, in the wake of civil and ethnic wars, ethical thinking about armed intervention has begun to change. The so-called War on Terror has complicated the issue further, with the US arguing for military action against those it regards as a threat to world peace and security.

In Righteous Violence, nine leading thinkers explore the ethical and practical consequences of these changes.

Edited by Tony Coady and Michael O'Keefe, with contributions from national and international scholars and defence strategists, Righteous Violence is a cool-headed and challenging assessment of the defining issue of our day.

Professor Tony Coady is a Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne. He has published several books including Terrorism and Justice (MUP 2002) and Violence and Police Culture (MUP 2000), which he co-edited with Michael O'Keefe.
Dr Michael O'Keefe teaches and researches politics at La Trobe University. He also edits Global Change, Peace and Security.

About the Author

Professor Tony Coady is Deputy Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne. He has been a Visiting Lecturer and Visiting Fellow at numerous universities including Oxford and Cambridge, Princeton University and University of Maryland, and the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC. He has published several books, including Terrorism and Justice (MUP, 2002) and Violence and Police Culture (MUP, 2001).
Dr Michael O’Keefe teaches and researches politics at LaTrobe University. He co-edited Terrorism and Justice.

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978-0-522-85116-8