The perils of preemptive war

The University of Maryland has a School of Public Affairs, within which there is The Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. Its director is William A. Galston, whose most recent publication is Liberal Pluralism. A previous publication was Liberal Purposes. He served as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy, The Institute publishes Philosophy & Public Policy Quarterly. The lead article in the Fall 2002 issue is "The Perils of Preemptive War" by William Galston. It was written before Gulf War II began, but the issues it raises are still valid. It is really a long commentary on the June 1, 2002 speech President Bush gave at West Point. It stresses the importance of prudence and then takes up the Just War Theory, which is closely related to the question of preemptive war. These philosophical issues have been silenced by the noise of battle, but they will return as historians try to write the history of the war. Unfortunately philosophical discussions are a blank in the minds of TV producers, who are delighted with the war, which attracts millions of viewers like bigger and better Roman circuses. We talk a lot about bringing democracy to the world, but do we really want to bring peace to the world? The media really do not, which could be the subject of a good article in this quarterly.

Ronald Hilton - 4/7/03