Webinar: Moral and spiritual injury in war: Russo-Ukraine, Israel-Iran and beyond

About this session

In this webinar Timothy Mallard will discuss his new book, Moral and Spiritual Injury in War: Russo-Ukraine, Israel-Iran, and Beyond (Stone Tower Press, 2025).

The work’s central theme is that moral and spiritual injury from war are no longer simply localised problems but ones which affect families, communities, forces, people groups, and nations. In essence, what we once considered to be only a tactical outcome of war (e.g., one individual suffering from moral injury and her or his treatment modality) is now additionally an operational and even strategic problem of war. From the field of ethics, specifically the Just War Tradition, this then makes these injuries ad bellum problems for consideration prior to deciding to initiate any future war, because their costs are widespread and long-lasting.

In a recent interview, Timothy said that, in writing this book, “I genuinely hope that someone living with moral and spiritual injury—whether from war or not—may read this book and gain fresh understanding and hope. As I state in the book, such suffering is never an end unto itself but rather a means to an end, particularly towards a renewed personal sense of identity, meaning, and purpose. This can be true at a communal level as well.

“Second, I do also hope that national security professionals, including warriors, policy experts, and decision-makers, will gain a new appreciation for the social costs of these injuries as an outcome of war. For that class of leaders, I genuinely hope to catalyse a different way of thinking about war, particularly a consideration of its costs.”

Do join us to find out more. Timothy will be in discussion with Brian Powers, our Executive Director. This webinar is organised in partnership with St Chad’s College, Durham.

About Timothy

Timothy recently retired after almost 37 years as a United States Army Chaplain. During that time he deployed as a Battalion, Brigade, and Division Chaplain in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq, held strategic postings at both US Army Europe and Africa and the Pentagon and was a certified Army Strategist.

As an experienced chaplain, a Christian ethicist, and Assistant Professor and Director of Ethical Development at the US Army War College, Timothy was a founding member of the ICMI’s steering group and in September 2024 we were very happy to welcome him to Durham for a 12-month visiting fellowship with St Chad's College. He is now a Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Birmingham Theological Seminary in the USA and continues as an Honorary Fellow in Durham University’s Department of Theology and Religion.

Join us

All welcome. To receive the Teams link, please register for the webinar via Eventbrite.