On Legal and Legitimate Wars in the Transforming Public Sphere: Social Contract Theory's Confusion about War Declarations.

This article analyzes the discursive conditions necessary for war to be considered legal and legitimate, focusing on the relationship between citizens and government in the post-World War II era when formal declarations of war have become rare. It argues that the absence of clear, public, and reasoned war declarations undermines citizens’ informed consent and democratic legitimacy, highlighting communicative blockages at national and international levels, including institutional deadlock and manipulation of public opinion. Drawing on political theory from thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and Habermas, the paper emphasizes the importance of a fully discursive public sphere where war declarations provide reasons, objectives, and terms for ending conflict. The Korean War is presented as a case study illustrating the consequences of communicative failure, resulting in an undeclared and contested war lacking legal and democratic legitimacy. The article concludes that without transparent and deliberative war-declaring practices, democratic publics remain excluded from meaningful participation in decisions about war.