@Bi: just war alludes to the laws of war --- In my humble opinion, there is a slight risk with the world 'allude' because it may give, at first sight, the wrong impression that wars are 'just' as long as they follow the prescriptions of the laws of war.

Indeed, 'Jus ad bellum' describes the formal conditions to declare a war. Formally, killing the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a casus belli and it was followed by a declaration of war in due form. But this does not make WWI a just war. Similarly, 'Jus in bello' (humanitarian law) describes some conditions to be applied in relation to non combatants (civilians, prisoners of war). During WWII, the Nazi troops treated sometimes the English or American prisoners in accordance to the Geneva Conventions, but this did not make their war a "just war". Reversely, if we admit, politically speaking, that the war against terror is just, the illegal treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo does not make it 'unjust'.

In fact, there is another branch of law, jus contra bellum, which seeks to limit as much as possible the resort to war, implying that in some situations war can be justified (not 'just').

So, I would rather say: The term 'just war' (is not related to) (should not be confused with) the terms 'jus ad bellum' and 'jus in bello'.

Source author: Petru Dumitriu PetruD@diplomacy.edu