“According to Mencius’s saying, a hegemon uses force to attack others in the name of benevolent justice. This kind of war is an unjust war.” (Bell, 23).
Rulers should prepare and train their people for war especially those of small states in order to defend and secure their peace. If a small state with a benevolent ruler is threatened or attacked by a hegemon then military action is appropriate. The people of the benevolent ruler would be more self-mobilized to fight solely because it is necessary to promote peace and benevolence. This also leads to the importance of the people’s support in which it is necessary to have a successful warfare. Abdication is simply a legitimate reason for a ruler to engage in warfare because “a true king does not allow the people to be harmed by interfering with the things upon which their livelihood depends”(Bell, 37).
The second kind of just war is humanitarian intervention – which Mencius identifies as (zheng) “punitive expeditions.” Humanitarian intervention occurs when states can legitimately invade other states to free their people of cruel tyranny to bring about global peace and good government; a peaceful change as a better bargain. However, there are requisites to achieve this. First, the conquerors must liberate the people who are oppressed by the tyrant. This may involve in murdering the tyrant since tyrant slaughter numerous of civilians himself.
“Just as people may justly kill their despotic rulers, so leaders of punitive expeditions may justly kill tyrants in foreign lands, if need be.” –Mencius (Bell, 38).
Secondly, the people must show that they welcome their conquerors. They must long lastingly support their conquerors. The conquered must be received enthusiastically by the conquering. Thirdly, the ruler of the conquering must be virtuous or at a minimum, have the potential to become virtuous. This is essential for a ruler to acquire in order to develop moral power and spread change. Moral progression could plausibly attract those living in faraway lands so there would be no need for territorial boundaries, hence achieving tian xia:
“The moral power of the exemplary person is the wind, the virtue of the common person is grass. Under the wind, the grass must bend.” –Confucious (Bell, 25)
Fourth of all, the leader of humanitarian intervention must have some moral claim to have the world’s support. Without trust, punitive expeditions should not be launched.
“There is a way to gain the whole world. It is to gain the people, and having gained them one gains the whole world. There is a way to gain the people. Gain their hearts, and then you gain them.” –Dobson (Bell, 25).
The Confucian theory of war asserts it is the people that prefer peace and cooperation while the cause of war is held to the rulers’ incentives for power, territory, prestige, etc. This is the problem of elite regulation; their decisions can either flourish a society or kill it because they have so much power and influence. Confucians argue that in order to minimize the causes of war, people should only fight for practical but moral ends, otherwise it is not worth fighting for. Moral ends such as human nature, defense of civilization, and restoration of peace. The ruler must have a moral obligation, if he must fight, he must fight to win. It is morally obligated of him; it is not a choice or liberation. If a war must be fought, then it should be fought decisively because Confucians see minimizing innocent casualties as a waste of time because it will always happen. What rulers should think about is how they got into the situation instead. The ruler must concentrate to create peace for the common good; building peace to fight war. If this is carried out properly, his people will be willing to fight for him. Virtuous rulers must fight wars that are essential and necessary because war must be for the people not the people for the war. Furthermore, a war can only be considered just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Warfare corrupts the self while peace is seen as a pragmatic natural good that restores and leads to a good life for people. If a ruler engages in war for his self-interest, he is entrapping himself in self deception. A ruler must be careful with perverse incentives because it might ultimately make him worse off.
For Confucians, a defensive war can only be justified by a capable ruler who aims to provide peace and spread benevolence. With this, he must need the support of his people and their willingness to fight in order to protect their territory over hegemons. An offensive war is only justified if it is led by a virtuous leader who aims to punish tyrants of the conquered. The conquered must also welcome the conquering, and the ruler must have the world’s support. Bell uses the invasion of Iraq as a contemporary example of an unjust war where Mr. Bush is today’s hegemonic king.
“The best contemporary example is President Bush’s war of invasion against Iraq! He used the excuses of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism in order to obtain oil resources and to consolidate his strategic position in the Middle East.” –Yongquan (Bell, 23).
In my personal opinion, I agree with Bell’s example. Mr. Bush led an offensive war which supposedly aimed to save the citizens of Iraq, and to deter destruction of nuclear weapons. However, there were no nuclear weapons apparent and innocent lives of Iraqis are being taken as we speak today. This was an unnecessary war that we engaged in; we did not use war as a last resort. We did not attempt alternative resolutions to this catastrophic event but instead, we led a pre-emptive attack. I agree with the Confucian theory of war as a last resort. In conclusion, the Confucian theory of just war should be followed by all nations in order to establish peace for it will help societies flourish by being non-conflicting, pacifist, and non violent.
