This book investigates whether the ethics of war can be grounded in a contractarian framework that justifies both the decision to enter conflict and the conduct of military operations. The authors, Daniel Statman and Yitzhak Benbaji, utilize the long-standing tradition of social contract theory to argue that the rules governing warfare are derived from mutually beneficial agreements between relevant actors. By applying this logic, they seek to provide a coherent moral and legal structure that aims to minimize the horrors of armed conflict while promoting peace.

Scholars in the field of political philosophy frequently note the rigorous application of contractarian logic to the complex moral landscape of warfare. Experts highlight this text as a significant contribution to the ongoing debate regarding the intersection of international law and moral obligation.