Full Description
This book offers a meditation on global justice and international political and legal theory. The author assesses positions in the current debate over the moral nature and limits of sovereignty. He also evaluates the normative role sovereignty ought to play in the practical deliberations of states.
The discussion moves from theory to practice. Coverage starts with a conceptual analysis and moral critique. It then goes on to consider specific issues. These include global climate change, secession and self-determination, human rights, global distributive justice, and immigration. Readers will learn how states ought to deliberate about and respond to these important topics. They will also discover potential institutional structures better suited to resolving these issues while also respecting state sovereignty.
In working through each specific challenge, the author provides insight into how we ought to think about challenges facing the international community and the potential for properly constructed institutions to function as solutions. These analyses also provide a valuable critical lens to assess the actions (and omissions) of our leaders.
In the end, the book argues that domestic governments and regional bodies should be responsible for implementing the chosen course of action. This would provide a basis for holding political leaders more accountable.
Contents
Introduction and Overview.- Part I Developing a Framework for Assessing the Moral Limits of State Sovereignty and Sovereign Discretion.- Explicating the Tension between State Sovereignty and the New Challenges Facing the International Community.- Assessing the Limitations Inherent to the Notion of Sovereignty Itself.- Assessing the Limitations from the Best Available Justification for Sovereignty.- Introducing a Framework for Assessing the Moral Limits of Sovereignty and Sovereign Discretion.- Part II Making the Transition from Theory to Practice.- Understanding the Application of the Framework.- Global Climate Change: A Matter of Transnational Ethical Concern.- Applying the Framework: Limits to Sovereign Discretion Inherent to Sovereignty.- Applying the Framework: Limits Implied by Instrumental Value of Sovereignty.- Explicating Institutional Legitimacy.- Conclusion: Some Suggestions for Institutional Design and Reform.
