Today, I spoke with Samuel Moyn, who is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and a Professor of History at Yale University. We discussed his latest book, Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, published in September this year. As you will hear, I found this book to be of immense importance and hope that its contents get attention far and wide, most notably amongst those who send us to war.
Some of the topics Sam and I covered are how the idea of humane war entered our collective conscience; the role the war in Vietnam had in a pivot towards humane war; abdication of diplomacy for the ‘cleanliness’ of war; the traps of the Just War doctrine and its selective interpretations; the role of lawyers in making war ‘just’; impact of 9/11 on making war more ‘humane’; future dangers and much more.
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Full show notes:
My guest today is Samuel Moyn, who is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and a Professor of History at Yale University. He has written several books in his fields of European intellectual history and human rights history, including The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History (2010), and edited or coedited a number of others.
His most recent books are Christian Human Rights (2015), based on Mellon Distinguished Lectures at the University of Pennsylvania in fall 2014, and Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World (2018). His newest book, published in September this year, is titled Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, and will be the focus of our conversation today.
Over the years, Samuel has written in venues such as the Boston Review, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dissent, The Nation, The New Republic, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
I recently finished his latest book, Humane, and to say that it was a perspective-altering read would be a huge understatement. It is a deeply insightful and undoubtedly controversial book, and I hope it gets the global attention it deserves. For that very reason, I am truly humbled to have hosted Sam on the show. Some of the topics we covered include:
70. Dr Alexander Bellamy - R2P, Just War and prospects of World Peace - Part 1
69. Amanda Hsiao - China, US and Taiwan: A deep dive
68. Special Release: Dr Mike Martin and John Spencer - An update on Ukraine
67. Paul Ingram - On the threat of nuclear war and hopes of disarmament
66. Dr Jessica Wolfendale - On torture, war crimes and moral responsibility - Part 2
65. Dr Jessica Wolfendale - On torture, war crimes and moral responsibility - Part 1
64. John Spencer - On Ukraine, Urban Warfare and lessons learnt
63. Dr Ned Dobos - On the unaccounted costs of maintaining a military
62. Abby Zeith and Ruben Stewart: International Humanitarian Law in Urban Warfare
61. Brigadier Mark Ascough - On Military Intelligence
60. Dr Tony Ingesson - On military sub-cultures and their impact on behaviour
59. My personal reflections on war
58. Dr Mike Martin and LTGEN (Ret.) Arne Dalhaug - Update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine
57. John Gartner - Reflections on a lifetime of service in the Special Forces
56. Andy Norman - Mental Immunity: Inoculating against conspiracies and disinformation
55. Jason Pack - On the ’Global Enduring Disorder’
54. Duncan Spinner - The Fight for at-risk Ukrainians
53. Dr Deane-Peter Baker: State Ethics vs Soldier Morality
52. Dr David Whetham - On the Ethics of War, War Crimes and Ethical Decision Making
51. Carl Miller - On Information Warfare, Social Media and pro-Russian influence campaigns in BRICS
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