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Palgrave Macmillan

Blair's Just War

Iraq and the Illusion of Morality

  • Book
  • © 2012

Overview

Authors:
  1. Peter Lee

    1. King’s College London, UK

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 1-13

  3. Blair and just intervention

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 14-34

  4. Are we sure of our case?

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 35-55

  5. Views from the academy

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 56-74

  6. Authority, legitimacy and war

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 75-94

  7. Regime change

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 95-114

  8. Confronting tyranny

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 115-132

  9. Protecting the weak

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 133-153

  10. Fighting the fight

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 154-173

  11. Reflections

    • Peter Lee
    Pages 174-186

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 187-210
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Keywords

About this book

Bringing together both contemporary and historical just war concepts, Peter Lee shows that Blair's illusion of morality evaporated quickly and irretrievably after the 2003 Iraqinvasion because the ideas Blair relied upon were taken out of their historical context and applied in a global political system where they no longer hold sway.

Reviews

'This is an important book on an important subject, and future politician-generals would do well to study it for their second, third and better thoughts when contemplating war.' AC Grayling, Master of New College of the Humanities, UK

'Peter Lee provides a nuanced, probing, and reflective examination of Blair's essentially moral arguments in the context of both international law and the UK political scene. One of the most valuable contributions of this book is its attention to the matter of what counts for truth in ambiguous situations and the role of political leadership in shaping a public conception of truth. While Lee concludes that Blair's judgments in the case of Iraq were wrong, his presentation takes the reader into Blair's reasoning process in an insightful, reflection-provoking way, so that even readers who disagree with Lee's conclusions will benefit greatly from what he has to say.' James Turner Johnson, Professor of Religion, Rutgers University, USA

'Judicious, hard-hitting, and erudite: this is a wonderful book. Drawing upon a rich account of the just war tradition, Peter Lee offers a razor-sharp moral examination of Tony Blair's role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This is essential reading for all scholars interested in the ethics of war: from advanced undergraduates to specialists in the field.' Cian O'Driscoll, Lecturer in International Politics, University of Glasgow, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  • King’s College London, UK

    Peter Lee

About the author

Peter Lee is Lecturer in Air Power Studies at King's College London, based at RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire, UK. During the build-up to the 2003 invasion and for most of the period of the UK's involvement in Iraq, he served as a RAF chaplain. He is regularly invited as a public speaker to give seminars on this subject to military, academic and wider audiences.

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