Welcome - Democracy, Human Rights, War, and Peace: Ethics in International Affairs POLI 4450   Democracy, Human Rights, War, and Peace: Ethics in International Affairs
CREDIT HOURS: 3
What duties do states, and their members, have beyond their borders? Are obligations of justice global in scope? Or, alternatively, are they constrained by national borders? What is the moral standing of states? This advanced undergraduate-level seminar will focus on contemporary debates in international political theory. In this course we will discuss liberal, republican and discursive democratic perspectives on issues of global justice, particularly in light of global social structures and international inequalities. Major themes include: human rights in theory and practice; the historical roots of international relations theory; global distributive justice; republicanism and the ideal of non-domination; the possibility of global discursive democracy; cosmopolitanism; the moral relevance of borders; nationalism, patriotism and special duties; sovereignty, international law and the international order. Major thinkers include: Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, Phillip Pettit, Charles Beitz, Thomas Pogge, Iris Marion Young and Seyla Benhabib, among others. Students should therefore have a background in political theory. The course will consist of seminar discussions, framed by short presentations by students that draw on their critical reflection papers.
FORMAT: Seminar
PREREQUISITES: 3nd year course is mandatory. Some background in political theory and/or political philosophy is recommended.