Fighting for Independence: What Can Just War Theory Learn from Civil Conflict?

[The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it presents the urgent case of civil war, relatively undertheorized by just war theorists, along with the normative issues that pertain to this type of conflict and its participants specifically. Second, it suggests that this civil war perspective offers fresh support for the traditional "independence thesis"—separating just cause for war from the rules of its conduct—which is often criticized by contemporary moral philosophers.]