The Gamble of War

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 1-13

3. On the Forms of Preventive War

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. Narrating, Explaining, Defining Preventive War

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 17-51

   3. A Just War?

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 53-75

4. Waging War

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-79

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   2. On Temperance

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 81-98

   3. Precision as Justification

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 99-144

   4. Targeted Killings: Manhunts

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 145-173

5. Moral Luck

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 175-175

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   2. Good or Bad Fortune

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 177-207

   3. Possible Worlds

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 209-230

6. Conclusion

   1. Conclusion

      • Ariel Colonomos

      Pages 231-236

7. Back Matter

   Pages 237-277

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This book analyzes the justification of preventive war in contemporary asymmetrical international relations. It focuses on the most crucial aspect of prevention: uncertainty. It builds a new framework where the role of luck—whether military, political, moral, or normative—is a corrective to the traditional approaches of the just war tradition.

• international relations
• Just War
• prevention

"As Ariel Colonomos shows in this penetrating book, the fog of war is never thicker than when states contemplate preventive force. Mixing astute commentary on history, ethics, political theory and current events, he offers very wise counsel to political leaders contemplating whether to attack before (they think) they will be attacked."

-Michael Doyle, author of Striking First and Harold Brown Professor of U.S. Foreign and Security Policy at the School of International and Public Affairs, the Department of Political Science, and the Law School, Columbia University

"A brilliant exploration of the vexatious necessity of justifying preventive war when the availability of weapons of mass destruction excludes waiting for an attack to materialize but when uncertainty about the future excludes a 'proportional' response to an attack whose extent is unknown because it has not yet occurred." - Stephen Holmes, Professor of Law and Political Science, New York University

Ariel Colonomos is a senior research fellow at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Recearch) in Paris and a research professor at Sciences Po.

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