Recent armed conflicts — domestic and international — have drawn fresh attention to age-old questions about when war can be justified, and what methods and targets are permissible during war. For more than two millennia, the world’s leading religious traditions —  Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism — have provided guidance in these contested domains.

World Religions and Norms of War, published by UNU Press, examines how religions have responded to such pressing moral challenges as offensive and defensive wars, the protection of noncombatants, asymmetric tactics, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction. Written by an international team of distinguished specialists in their respective traditions, and edited by Vesselin Popovski (UNU), Gregory M. Reichberg (International Peace Research Institute) and Nicholas Turner (UNU), this book takes the reader on a unique journey through the evolution within the major world religions of attitudes and teachings related to the ethics of war.

The book systematically explores the historical roots and interpretations of norms within these religious traditions, and links them to the challenges of modern warfare. This combination of deep historical analysis and application to contemporary issues provides valuable insights, and even prompts us to rethink our understanding of the role and influence of religion in the state and politics.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Religion and war
• Norms of war in Hinduism
• Norms of war in Theravada Buddhism
• Norms of war in Japanese religion
• Norms of war in Judaism
• Norms of war in Roman Catholic Christianity
• Norms of war in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• Norms of war in Protestant Christianity
• Norms of war in Shia Islam
• Norms of war in Sunni Islam
• Norms of war in cross-religious perspective