International Ethics: A Critical Introduction

Shapcott 2010

Richard Shapcott
Polity (April 2010)

http://www.polity.co.uk/book.asp?ref=0745631428

About the Book: Is it justifiable to make any basic moral distinction between ‘insiders and outsiders’? Do we have substantive duties of ‘justice’ to all human beings or merely humanitarian duties of aid and assistance? These are two of the most crucial questions confronting world politics and the field of international ethics today. 

International Ethics: A Critical Introduction provides an engaging and accessible introduction to these foundational questions. In a cogent and carefully argued analysis, Richard Shapcott critically examines the theories of cosmopolitanism, communitarianism, realism and pluralism, and scrutinises their approaches to the various obligations which members of ‘bounded’ communities, primarily nation-states, have to ‘outsiders’ and ‘foreigners’. He then takes the theoretical approaches in context by discussing the ethics of hospitality and membership of political communities, issues of mutual aid and humanitarianism abroad, the ethics of harm related to interstate international violence, and the challenge of severe global poverty. The book concludes by suggesting that the terms of international ethical life in the 21st century require reframing in terms that focus more intently on the nature of harm between communities and individuals.

This book provides students and scholars with a conceptual framework with which to analyse the policies, actions and philosophy of governments, NGOs and international corporations. Above all, it provides the means whereby individuals can assess their own positions on contemporary ethical issues such as global poverty, humanitarian intervention, migration and refugees, and global warming.

About the Author
Richard Shapcott is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Queensland.

Contact: r.shapcott@uq.edu.au

Globalizing Justice: The Ethics of Poverty and Power

Miller

Richard W. Miller 
Oxford University Press (April 2010)

http://tinyurl.com/2u83wg9

About the Book: Combining deep moral argument with extensive factual inquiry, Richard Miller constructs a new account of international justice. Though a critic of demanding principles of kindness toward the global poor and an advocate of special concern for compatriots, he argues for standards of responsible conduct in transnational relations that create vast unmet obligations. Governments, firms and people in developed countries, above all, the United States, by failing to live up to these responsibilities, take advantage of people in developing countries. Miller's proposed standards of responsible conduct offer answers to such questions as: What must be done to avoid exploitation in transnational manufacturing? What framework for world trade and investment would be fair? What duties do we have to limit global warming? What responsibilities to help meet basic needs arise when foreign powers steer the course of development? What obligations are created by uses of violence to sustain American global power? Globalizing Justice provides new philosophical foundations for political responsibility, a unified agenda of policies for responding to major global problems, a distinctive appraisal of ‘the American empire’, and realistic strategies for a global social movement that helps to move humanity toward genuine global cooperation.


About the Author: Richard Miller is Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University.

Contact: rwm5@cornell.edu

Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Who Should Intervene?

Pattison

James Pattison
Oxford University Press (2010)

http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Politics/InternationalStudies/?view=usa&ci=9780199561049

About the book: This book considers who should undertake humanitarian intervention in response to an ongoing or impending humanitarian crisis, such as found in Rwanda in early 1994, Kosovo in 1999, and Darfur more recently. The doctrine of the responsibility to protect asserts that when a state is failing to uphold its citizens’ human rights, the international community has a responsibility to protect these citizens, including by undertaking humanitarian intervention. It is unclear, however, which particular agent should be tasked with this responsibility. Should we prefer intervention by the UN, NATO, a regional or subregional organization (such as the African Union), a state, a group of states, or someone else? This book answers this question by, first, determining which qualities of interveners are morally significant and, second, assessing the relative importance of these qualities. For instance, is it important that an intervener have a humanitarian motive? Should an intervener be welcomed by those it is trying to save? How important is it that an intervener will be effective and what does this mean in practice? The book then considers the more empirical question of whether (and to what extent) the current interveners actually possess these qualities, and therefore should intervene. For instance, how effective can we expect UN action to be in the future? Is NATO likely to use humanitarian means? Overall, the book develops a particular normative conception of legitimacy for humanitarian intervention. It uses this conception of legitimacy to assess not only current interveners, but also the desirability of potential reforms to the mechanisms and agents of humanitarian intervention.

About the author: Dr James Pattison is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester, UK. His research interests concern the moral issues raised when using military force abroad, including humanitarian intervention, the responsibility to protect, and the increased use of private military companies. His PhD on humanitarian intervention was awarded the Sir Ernest Barker Prize for Best Dissertation in Political Theory by the Political Studies Association in 2008. He has also published various articles on the ethics of force, including for Ethics and International Affairs, International Theory, the Journal of Military Ethics, the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, the Journal of International Political Theory, the International Journal of Human Rights, and the Journal of Social Philosophy. Before joining Manchester, he was a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of the West of England, Bristol (from Sept 2007-09). He has also spent time as a Research Affiliate at New York University and he was a temporary lecturer in the School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology at Newcastle University.

Contact: james.pattison@manchester.ac.uk