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Framing The Issues In Moral Terms Iii: Rights And Right Conduct, Robert Williams

Robert E. Williams Jr.

The development of a global human rights culture has had a profound effect on the way discussions of military ethics are framed. This is most apparent in the development of the “responsibility to protect” norm amid a broader debate concerning military intervention to stop serious human rights abuses. With policymakers and international lawyers, many just war theorists have adopted an understanding of military ethics centered on human rights. This essay describes the development of the rights-based perspective on the use of force and its impact on key questions regarding the resort to war and just conduct in war.