Moral Issues In International Affairs

The place of morality in the conduct and analysis of international relations is coming under closer scrutiny in the literature. What was seen as a peripheral topic, even a source of distortion, two decades ago, is today being brought from the margins to the centre of theoretical inquiry. A number of eminent scholars in international affairs have come together in this volume to address this question of morality and to explore some of the central, normative issues which arise in the context of European integration.

Events in the past seven years have affected the project of European integration in different ways. A hostile, public reaction to the Maastricht Treaty, and the pressure to expand the Union to the new democracies in Eastern Europe, have created a set of moral challenges for the EU in regard to further integration.

Some of these challenges are reflected in the essays gathered together in this book. The first part addresses the general problem of moral choice and alternative structures arising from such choice in questions of peace, security, and international politics. In the second section, the concern with the ethical is focused broadly on the origins and character of European integration.

Finally, some case-studies of areas of particular moral concern are presented, displaying the role of morality in constructing the existing European Union and in suggesting alternative paths to further integration. Review: 'This is an interesting and varied collection of essays.' - Eunan O'Halpin, Irish Political Studies