Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer: 

In Vitoria's treatise "On Just War," Vitoria makes some rather strong demands upon any State that wants to go to war against another State. The war must be based on just reasons and it must be fought justly. One of the questions Vitoria addresses in paragraphs 20-27 is what happens when a State has doubt about whether it is just to launch a war. I want you to read this section closely and apply the principles that Vitoria proposes for the following case: One State (A) fears that another State (B) is preparing to attack it. State A thinks that these preparations are happening in secret buildings, but State B says this is not true, and it lets neutral observers into the country to look for the weapons that State A says it is building. The neutral observers find no evidence, but the question is still open. State A decides that it State B is still hiding the weapons and just stalling until it is ready to attack State A. State A launches the war with a preemptive strike. What would Vitoria say?