I thought of this question after reading through the “Stopping Dictators” thread. The question is pretty simple: What if any wars fought throughout history have been justified from a libertarian viewpoint?
From a libertarian viewpoint, the only just war would be one where the voluntary protagonists bear 100% of the costs. I doubt that has ever been the case. Maybe some conflicts during the medieval period come close to qualifying. I think Hoppe may have cited some examples in Democracy… E.g., nobles having to raise their own funds and troops over and above the covenantal remittances from their fees. So, the nobility and the mercs go out and fight, and the people may even stroll over to watch the field of battle for entertainment and to see who’s going to be their next lord.
I’m sure that romantic scenario has been the extremely rare exception though.
One of the Rothbard mp3’s is titled “Two Just Wars: 1776 and 1861”.
The American War for Independence and War for Southern Independence* are the only two wars in American history I can think of off the top of my head fought with the furtherment of liberty in mind, where no peaceful alternatives could have been effectively used, and where no bad decisions on the behalf of our government made in the past contributed to the events which lead to war**.
I’d like to say the Barbary Wars and War of 1812 were completely justified as well. But I haven’t done much research on them so I can’t form a solid opinion as to whether it was 100% nessessary for our government fight them.
- The Southern states could have formed their own country(s) in 1787 without the need to fight a war had they not ratified the US Constitution.
** The terrorist attacks of 9/11 would most likely not have happened if our government had not persued an interventionist foreign policy in the Middle East over the last few decades which angered many Muslims and encouraged the growth of extremist groups.
While the latter of those wars might have been justified in principle, they were still fought by unjust means - through taxation and conscription.