Ethics and Foreign Policy

The promotion of human rights, the punishment of crimes against humanity, the use of force with respect to humanitarian intervention: these are some of the complex issues facing governments in recent years. The contributors to this book offer a theoretical and empirical approach to these issues. Three leading normative theorists first explore what an 'ethical foreign policy' means. Four contributors then look at potential or actual instruments of ethical foreign policy-making: the export of democracy, non-governmental organisations, the International Criminal Court, and bottom-up public pressure on governments. Finally, three case studies examine more closely developments in the foreign policies of the US, the UK, and the European Union, to assess the difficulties raised by the incorporation of ethical considerations into foreign policy.

Introduction Karen E. Smith and Margot Light; Part I. Theories: 1. Ethics, interests and foreign policy Chris Brown; 2. The ethics of humanitarian intervention: protecting civilians to make democratic citizenship possible Mervyn Frost; 3. A pragmatic perspective on ethical foreign policy Molly Cochran; Part II. Instruments and Policies: 4. Exporting democracy Margot Light; 5. Ethical foreign policies and human rights: dilemmas for non-governmental organisations Margo Picken; 6. The international criminal court Spyros Economides; 7. Constructing an ethical foreign policy: analysis and practice from below Karin Fierke; Part III. Case Studies: 8. The United States and the ethics of post-modern war Christopher Coker; 9. Blair's Britain: a force for good in the world? Tim Dunne and Nicholas Wheeler; 10. The EU, human rights and relations with third countries: 'foreign policy' with an ethical dimension? Karen E. Smith.

The complex dilemmas facing governments regarding the promotion of human rights are considered here. Contributors explore what an 'ethical foreign policy' means, then look at potential or actual instruments of ethical foreign policy-making; three case studies assess the difficulties raised by the incorporation of ethical considerations into foreign policy.

Karen E. Smith is Lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics. Her publications include The Making of EU Foreign Policy: The Case of Eastern Europe (1999) and co-editor (with Christopher Hill) of European Foreign Policy: Key Documents (2000).
Margot Light is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics. She is co-editor (with A. J. R. Groom) of Contemporary International Relations: A Guide to Theory (1994) and co-author (with Neil Malcolm, Alex Pravda and Roy Allison) of International Factors in Russian Foreign Policy (1996).