John Rawls’s just war doctrine is primarily interpreted as an elaboration of Walzer’s theory. However, when considered in light of Rawls’s Kantian commitments and the utopian nature of his reflections on international relations in The Law of Peoples, his perspective on just war is distinctive and challenging. This Kantian influence leads to a nuanced doctrine with a commitment to peace as the regulative principle of war, characterised as principles of transitional justice that are never fully just. A sceptical perspective emerges that rejects extending the just war doctrine to humanitarian warfare. The Rawlsian statesman would be a dove, rather than a hawk, committed to the belief that war is an evil to be avoided and overcome, and that universal peace should be aspired to.
Keywords
John Rawls, Just War, The Law of Peoples, Humanitarian Intervention, Kant.