What are the moral responsibilities of international institutions and nations when leaders attack the lives and fundamental rights of their own people? What are the ethical obligations in the face of genocide or crimes against humanity? Is there a “responsibility to protect” vulnerable populations, especially refugees, women, and children? Under what circumstances is “humanitarian intervention” permitted or required? Catholic social teaching has long addressed the morality of the use of military force. How do the traditional “just war” criteria apply to these cases?
Several distinguished leaders at Georgetown addressed the moral dimensions and human consequences of these questions. They also explored the lessons of Bosnia, Rwanda, and Libya and discussed what should be done regarding Syria.
Participants
- Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J., is Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Human Development in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. His current areas of research include nuclear disarmament, nonviolence and just peacemaking, Catholic social teaching, and ecumenical public advocacy. He is a frequent consultant to the Holy See and a member of the steering committee of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. He also served on the Atlantic Council's Middle East Task Force and on the Holy See delegation that participated in the negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons during summer 2017.
- Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J., is the Pedro Arrupe Distinguished Research Professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, a senior fellow at the Berkley Center, and an affiliated professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University. His teaching and research deal with human rights, religious and ethical responses to humanitarian crises, and religion in political life from the standpoint of Catholic social thought, theology, and the social sciences. His books include Humanity in Crisis: Ethical and Religious Response to Refugees (2019), Driven from Home: Protecting the Rights of Forced Migrants (2010), The Global Face of Public Faith: Politics, Human Rights, and Christian Ethics (2003), and The Common Good and Christian Ethics (2002).
- Ambassador Melanne Verveer is the executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She most recently served as the first US Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues. In this position, she coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women, traveling to nearly sixty countries. She worked to ensure that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into US foreign policy, and she played a leadership role in the Obama administration’s development of the US National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. From 2000 to 2008, she was the chair and co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international NGO that she co-founded to invest in emerging women leaders. During the Clinton administration, she served as assistant to the president and chief of staff to first lady Hillary Clinton. She received a B.S. and M.S. from Georgetown University.
John Carr, co-director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University and former director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, moderated the conversation.
This dialogue was co-sponsored by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs; Catholic Studies program; and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.