Leading scholars explore how the arguments of classical European thinkers relate to the ethics and politics of military intervention today.

Introduction: the enduring relevance of classical thinkers Stefano Recchia and Jennifer Welsh; 1. Intervention in European history, c.1520-1850 David Trim; 2. War in the face of doubt: early modern classics and the preventive use of force Ariel Colonomos; 3. Vitoria: the law of war, saving the innocent, and the image of God William Bain; 4. Grotius, Hobbes and Pufendorf on humanitarian intervention Richard Tuck; 5. John Locke on intervention, uncertainty, and insurgency Samuel Moyn; 6. Intervention and sovereign equality: legacies of Vattel Jennifer Pitts; 7. David Hume and Adam Smith on international ethics and humanitarian intervention Edwin Van de Haar; 8. Sovereignty, morality and history: the problematic legitimization of force in Rousseau, Kant and Hegel Pierre Hassner; 9. Revisiting Kant and intervention Andrew Hurrell; 10. Edmund Burke and intervention: empire and neighborhood Jennifer Welsh; 11. The origins of liberal Wilsonianism: Giuseppe Mazzini on regime change and humanitarian intervention Stefano Recchia; 12. J. S. Mill on non-intervention and intervention Michael Doyle.