Ch. 14. Ethics are involved every issue covered from globalization and fragmentation to...
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Transcript of Ch. 14. Ethics are involved every issue covered from globalization and fragmentation to...
WORLD POLITICS IN
CONTEXTCh. 14
ETHICS
INTRODUCTION Ethics are involved
every issue covered from globalization and fragmentation to demographics and resource use.
Each theoretical paradigm implies a certain amount of ethics: Realists favor pragmatism
over idealism, Liberals favor natural law,
and Constructivists favor self-
awareness.
ETHICS OF WAR Ethics and morality permeate the
practice of war and can be neatly categorized into jus ad bellum and jus in bello.
JUS AD BELLUM Justice of war
War is to be considered just if: A just cause, Proportionality A rightful authority
to: Declare war, Chance for success,
and War is a last resort.
JUS IN BELLO Justice in war
Practices that are acceptable once war begins Practices focus on:
Appropriate targets Avoidance of noncombatants/civilian targets
Proportionality.
Both are open to interpretation and are not universally appliedDue to the anarchic structure of the
international system.
THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS Provide the most
systematic outline of the laws of war;Four conventions
deal with: Wounded and
soldiers on the battlefield;
Wounded, sick, and shipwrecked sailors;
POWs; and Treatment of
civilians in times of war.
ETHICS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND POSITIVE INTERVENTION This ethical dilemma addresses two
major debates:One focuses on the competing interests of
sovereignty versus protection of life, andThe second debate questions the efficacy of
intervention.
Sovereignty, a mainstay of the international system, is challenged from a moral perspective when: The state fails to
address, or causes, humanitarian disasters, Ex. such as the current
situation in Darfur.
Ethics only seem to play a role when all other interests have already been metLiberals argue that although the
international community’s response has been slow, it has succeeded in getting some humanitarian assistance to the region;
Constructivists would remind us to recognize both sovereignty and human rights as institutions.
The second debate focuses on intervention for the protection of life, although it might not work either in the long term or at all; Is it better to respond to the short-term
need and let the long-term consequences work themselves out or
Let the situation resolve itself without intervention (Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, and now Darfur)?
ETHICS OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION Postwar Behavior
The most contentious questions is whether perpetrators should be forgiven or punished; Complicated by
asking what kind of justice is being sought Retributive or
restorative.
Even if the perpetrator is identified, we must still ask Is the greater good is served by punishing
the person (or state) or by forgiveness. The ICC focuses on the retributive
process Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
focus on the restorative process;Reduce or eliminate individuals’ punishment
in exchange for combatants’ participation in telling the story of the war.
ETHICS OF TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
Realists Liberals
See trade and development as opportunities to gain a relative advantage and enhance state power;
See trade and development as natural processes where all benefit;
Constructivists Marxists
Consider economic institutions that have been created to: Foster trade and
development.
See trade and development as a means to: Enhance the power of
the core.
Ethical questions focus onConsumerism versus the Preservation of
Culture; Ex. The spread of capitalism and, with it,
consumerism, doing more harm than good?The answer depends on where you sit as the
proliferation of consumerism runs counter to many societies and practices.
ETHICS OF COMPETING INTERESTS Separating the
ethics of economics from the ethics of security is problematic;States’ leaders
must compromise, Accepting a lesser
evil to achieve a more dearly held objective.
The U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia (and other nondemocratic regimes) serves as a good example; Saudi Arabia and its
control over vast resources of oil leads the United States to turn a blind eye when it comes to the level of repression and human rights violations in the kingdom.
China copes with similar ethical dilemmas by stressing its respect for sovereignty; Its relationships
with the Sudan and Burma; Need for oil for
further economic development.
There are innumerable examples of ethical dilemmas caused by competing interests;Global relations are
so complex and interwoven that compromises are inevitable.
Realists Liberals
Believe this is simply the cost of international relations;
Hope that this compromise will lead to economic growth and democratization;
Constructivists
Remind us that our conceptions of morality shift over time.
RELATIONSHIP OF WORLD POLITICS TO OTHER SUB-DISCIPLINES OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
The study of foreign policy is related to world politics in that the former utilizes the levels of analysis as well as the three major worldviews;Foreign policy and world politics are often
confused because of their similarities; The key difference is that the study of foreign
policy is focused on:American policy structures, goals, and
methods, whereas the study of global politics looks:
More broadly at global relations.
In terms of American politics, The political dynamics
observed at the domestic level are often mirrored at the international level; Ex. Both share an
emphasis on balance-of-power; However, American
politics are hierarchically organized
International relations are anarchic.
THE FUTURE
Realists Liberals
Don’t anticipate a future much different from the present Human nature has not
changed and the system remains anarchic;
The UN is floundering under scandal and criticism;
Nuclear weapons are spreading;
States remain key actors; International law is still
being violated; and The Great Powers still put
their interests first.
Point to a rise in global civil society,
Increasing interdependence, and
The burgeoning world economy as evidence of a changing world,
They see trends toward cooperation on a whole host of issues and
Believe that these trends will continue in the future.
Constructivists
Believe that the future can be radically different It is free to morph as
people’s and their representative groups’ identities and interpretations of the world change, Thus leading to
potentially different sets of interests and political interactions.