Just War Theorists have neglected that a lack of “just military preparedness” on the side of a country seriously undermines its capability to resort justly to military force. In this paper, I put forth five principles of “just military preparedness” and show that since the new Obama administration will seek to maintain the United States’ dominant military position in the world, it will violate each of the principles. I conclude on this basis that we should anticipate that the Obama administration will add another page to the United States’ history of unjust military interventions.
This is a post-print version of an article originally published in International Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2009, Volume 23, Issue 1. The version of record is available at the Philosophy Documentation Center.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/harry_vanderlinden/40/