Many assume that in international politics, and especially in war,
"anything goes". Civil War general William Sherman said war "is all
hell". The implication behind the maxim is that in war, as in hell,
there is no order, only chaos; no mercy, only cruelty; no
restraint, only suffering.
Ward Thomas finds that this "anything goes" view is demonstrably
wrong. It neither reflects how most people talk about the use of
force in international relations nor describes the way national
leaders actually use military force. Events such as those in Europe
during World War Two, in the Persian Gulf War, and in Kosovo cannot
be understood, he argues, until we realize that state behavior,
even during wartime, is shaped by common understandings about what
is ethically acceptable and unacceptable.
Thomas makes extensive use of two cases -- the assassination of
foreign leaders and the aerial bombardment of civilians -- to trace
the relative influence of norms and interests. His insistence on
interconnections between ethical principle and material power leads
to a revised understanding of the role of normative factors in
foreign policy and the ways in which power and interest shape the
international system.
General
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