Casus belli is a modern Latin expression meaning "occasion of war." Despite the apparent authority that the use of Latin confers on it, the term did not come into wide usage until the late nineteenth century with the rise of the political doctrine of "jus ad bellum" or "Just War theory".
Officially, the term refers to the grievances section of a formal Declaration of War. In this section, a government would lay out its reasons for going to war, as well as its intentions in prosecuting it and the steps that might be taken to avert it. In so doing, the government would attempt to demonstrate that it was going to war only as a last resort ("Ultima Ratio") and that it in fact possessed "Just Cause" for doing so.
Modern usage, however, has expanded the definition of the term beyond its technical definitions to include any "just cause" a nation has for entering into a conflict. As such, it has been used both retroactively to describe situations in history before the term came into wide usage and in the present day when describing situations when war has not been formally declared. Possibly as a result of this, the term is commonly misspelled "causus belli." However, "causus" is not an existing Latin word, although it resembles both the English "cause" and the Latin "causa" (meaning "cause").
Casus Belli is also the name of a French role-playing game magazine.
2006-08-09 05:03:39
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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casus belli means "cause for war". That is an action that a state considers to be a cause to declare war. For example, if Turkey occupies Cyprus, this is a casus belli for Greece (Greece will go to war against it).
2006-08-09 12:03:20
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answer #2
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answered by cpinatsi 7
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No, its casus belli. Casus belli is a Latin lexpression meaning the justification for acts of war. Casus means "incident" or "rupture", while belli means "of war".
2006-08-09 12:01:34
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answer #3
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answered by Shylock 2
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I dont know but ya better go to the Dr.
2006-08-09 13:06:36
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answer #4
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answered by mike L 4
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i have no idea
2006-08-09 12:01:46
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answer #5
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answered by idontkno 7
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