I studied this in international politics. Its called a Just War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_War ).
Interesting elements such as targeting of combatants or non-combatants, proportionality and probability of success are all highly dubious measures made. How are going to know any of this with complete certainty? Personally i think there is always another option but, given the horrible cost of sanctions, its not neccesarily better choice anyway.
Application of Just War principles and Vietnam - http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/just-unjust-war.html
“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.
