"St. Thomas Aquinas"

Reaction to the "Summa Theologica" In his third Article, St. Thomas Aquinas deals with the question as to whether it is "lawful to lay ambushes in war." (Aquinas, 506) This can be interpreted in many ways today since the weapons that our army possesses often leads to wars where the soldiers never see each other (like the Air campaign in Iraq). This more generalized view of technology in warfare could therefore be seen as a broad …

…With respect to diplomacy, I would also agree with Aquinas when he states, "being told something false, or the breaking of a promise is always unlawful." (Aquinas, 507) This hampers the progress of diplomacy since both nations would need to constantly confirm each other's statements from third party sources. Therefore the nation with the superior technology or force should always burden itself with exhausting diplomatic tactics before they unleash any of the unjust factors of war.