Violencia y Estado. Una propuesta de clasificación para la teoría de la guerra justa

This article develops a categorization criterion that allows differentiation according to the legitimation of recurring to war as a means of solving conflicts among states, and identifies the main foci of just war theory. In this sense, it distinguishes pacifism, that rejects any kind of violent response by a state; from self-defense , that limits this action to defense against a prior aggression; interventionism , that legitimates military actions in contexts of human rights violations; and warmongering , that denies any kind of limitation in the military reach of states. This article concludes by showing how this proposal provides a parsimonious perspective with the added possibility of summarizing and exhibiting the positions of several scholars on current conflicts.