2024 Symposium:
War and Morality Digital Summit
Friday, Nov. 15 – Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024
As the defining event of the 20th century, how does World War I inform our understanding of “just” war?
When President Woodrow Wilson led the United States into WWI to “make the world safe for democracy,” it marked an end of American isolationism and initiated an era of global democratization.
Despite the efforts of multinational coalitions like the Triple Entente and League of Nations, crises have persisted throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, revealing the strategic and ethical complexities that define modern conflict and its impact on our global society.
• National WWI Museum and Memorial • Western Front Association • Modern War Institute at West Point • International Society for First World War Studies • WW1 Historical Association • International Relations Council
Join us this year in a digital summit to explore war and morality.
Historians and military professionals will delve into varied perspectives on questions such as:
What is a “just” war?
What are the ethics of war (e.g. The Hague, Geneva Conventions)?
Who is the most reliable judge of a war’s morality?
Is it important to judge the morality of World War I?
What standards has WWI set for contemporary war ethics?
How have international norms changed? Is war a driver of international laws on armed conflict?
What justifies a pre-emptive strike? What are the moral and ethical implications?
How does a lack of “rules of engagement” contribute to war crimes and reinforce opposition/resistance?
How do effective “rules of engagement” contribute to success at both a tactical and strategic level?
Are “rules of engagement” more than just moral tools in operations? Does the conflicts scope affect their value?
Can a nation achieve victory through strategic bombardment alone?
What role do rules of engagement (ROE) play in mission success and how can their absence reinforce opposition?
Should military education and strategy focus on winning war or preventing them?
Who should attend?
All who have a general or professional interest in the periods prior to, during and after World War I. We especially recommend this symposium to educators, historians and members of organizations that study these periods.
Speakers
Information coming soon
Schedule
Information coming soon
Register
Information coming soon
Refund Policy
Information coming soon
In partnership with
Past Symposia
Milestones and Cornerstones
Oct. 27-28, 2023
1923 ushered in a new era of military commemoration in the wake of WWI. Remembrance became less about victory and more about peace: monuments and cemeteries, enshrining the memory of those who served and sacrificed, were built not as trophies of the past but as touchstones for the future.
Shifting Tides: Citizenship in a World of Conflict
Nov. 4-5, 2022
Engulfed by four years of total war, the world emerged transformed. Amid the unfamiliarity of wartime and post-war societies, populations were both bound by tradition and buoyed by bids to reshape political, economic and social landscapes.
Fractured Fronts
Oct. 29-30, 2021
As the Great War “ended,” many questions confronted the global community that remain just as pressing today as they did one hundred years ago: How does war impact how we understand ourselves and our place in the world? What does it mean to “come home” when the places and people you called home have changed irrevocably?
1919: Peace?
Nov. 1-2, 2019
1919 was a year of sweeping changes in a landscape dramatically altered by years of unrelenting warfare. Leaders advanced towards elusive peace amid political instability, economic uncertainty and social conflict. As terms of the Treaty of Versailles were negotiated, a world reordered faced decisions and realities that would leave a complex legacy.
1918: Crucible of War
Nov. 1-3, 2018
Explore the irrevocable changes five years of cataclysmic conflict wrought on the global stage. As borders were literally and figuratively redrawn, Allies celebrated a victory and the world came to terms with the irreparable devastation and losses of the “war to end all wars.”
1917: America Joins the Fight
Nov. 3-4, 2017
The United States emerged from its traditional isolation in 1917 and began to take its place in the forefront of world affairs. As the U.S. mobilized its farms, industries, and formed a large army, it confronted curtailing civil liberties and faced a possible demand for equity in return for support.
Remembering Muted Voices
Oct. 19-22, 2017
Although the U.S. actively took part in the conflict for only 18 months, the war effort introduced mass conscription, transformed the American economy and mobilized popular support through war bonds, patriotic rallies and anti-German propaganda. Nevertheless, many people desired a negotiated peace, opposed American intervention, refused to support the war effort and even imagined future world orders that could eliminate war.
1916: Total War
Nov. 4-5, 2016
Explore the pivotal year of 1916, where global socio-political tensions created by World War I continued escalation and irrevocably changed the economic, military, and cultural landscape of the world.
1915: Empires at War
Nov. 6-7, 2015
Explore the rising tensions in America and the globally escalating conflict that defined the world in 1915. Follow the trajectories of different countries around the world as the conflict escalated to total war, including fighting in the colonies and East Asia, stalemate in the West, Churchill’s disaster at Gallipoli, mobilization at home, and the polarization of American society around the issue of war.
1914: Global War and American Neutrality
Nov. 7-8, 2014
Examine the origins of, reactions to and early confrontations in the First World War including the political, diplomatic, military, cultural and scientific developments prior to the war that contributed to its outbreak.