Abstract: Joseph Newhard (2017) argues that a libertarian anarchist society would be at a serious military disadvantage if it extended the nonaggression principle to include potential foreign invaders. He goes so far as to recommend cultivating the ability to launch a nuclear attack on foreign cities. In contrast, I argue that the free society would derive its strength from a total commitment to property rights and the protection of innocent life. Both theory and history suggest that a free society would be capable of defending itself, and indeed that it would probably use other means to avoid military conflict altogether.

Keywords: private defense, national defense, nonaggression principle, minimum deterrence, nonviolence

JEL Codes: H41, H56, K40

Download PDF: “Libertarian Law and Military Defense”