This book features a critique of key philosophical doctrines that dominate the Iraq war debate: just war theory, humanitarian intervention, democratic realism, and preventive war doctrine. The author evaluates each doctrine and argues that the failure of philosophical discourse on the war derives from misunderstanding the ontological nature of new wars and ignoring the spread of global capitalism that fuels contemporary war violence. He then develops an alternative philosophical approach to the analysis of war that argues for giving greater import to distinctive features of contemporary warfare. This approach offers a model for thinking through the philosophical dilemmas introduced by new wars.