In essence, the Just War Theory, which proposes that war can be waged ethically, can be broken down into two main components: jus ad bellum and jus in bello. The first component jus ad bellum refers to a set of criteria which, if met, provide states with ethical justification for engaging in war; these criteria include just cause, right intention, proportionality, last resort, legitimate war-declaring authority, and probability of success. The second component jus in bello refers to ethical guidelines for conducting war, which entails the principle of discrimination, prohibition of certain weapons, proportionality of force, and humane treatment of POWs. Notably, there are several empirical arguments against the JWT. First, wars, for the most
