Questioning the warist orthodoxy: pacifist critical reflections on Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Journal: International Affairs
Year: 2025

Abstract Pacifists are used to finding their arguments being dismissed as naive or even dangerous, especially once war has erupted. Yet this is precisely when pacifist arguments are arguably at their sharpest, and when questioning the ‘warist’ orthodoxy is most urgent. This article demonstrates the point by articulating three sets of pacifist critical reflections on the reactions to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. First, enough evidence has mounted about the relative effectiveness of no