The greatest virtue of the just war lies in its ability to pass judgement on war (the announced aims) and its conduct (the adopted strategy). But how coherent is this synthesis of ideas that assumes a unity between force, political expediency and morality? Can individual wars be morally assessed, and how useful is the just war in this respect? This article assesses the modern relevance of the tradition before suggesting directions for further research in the light of the recent Kosovo Crisis.
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