When it comes to the question of the legal significance of the so called bellum iustum doctrine, i.e. the idea of a just war, international lawyers start to feel uneasy. A large part of contemporary legal scholarship maintains the opinion that this doctrine was never part of international law. However, the subject remains controversial. The work in hand casts a new light on the longstanding bellum iustum ? bellum legale controversy while taking into account the more recent narrative turn in international law with particular consideration of its implications on international legal theory. It is shown that any categorical denial of the just war doctrine in international law is flawed from the outset, since law is value-related.