文档介绍：Ethics, Liberalism and Realism in
International Relations
Both of the leading theories of international relations, liberalism and
realism, suffer from an inability to integrate the ethical and pragmatic
dimensions of foreign policy. Liberalism’s inability to articulate a coherent
theory of mon human good raises serious questions about the claims of
liberal leaders to act in the interests of law and justice on the world stage. In
contrast, realist thinkers have struggled with questions of ethics in ways that
reflect their deep awareness of the tragic nature of politics. However, they
have also underestimated the potential for statecraft to exist as a moral
enterprise at the international level.
This book argues that the liberal theory of social contract should be
replaced with one based upon covenant. The covenant paradigm affirms the
realist position that no form of munity, liberal or otherwise,
can ever rid itself of the potential for tyranny and imperialism. Covenantal
thought also draws on Tocqueville’s observation that the contractual society,
meaning one rooted in a materialistic, narrow view of self-interest, cannot
survive for long as a vibrant democratic society. In contrast, effective
covenantal arrangements throughout history reflect our ability to create
mitments that sustain the variety of social and works
that Tocqueville believed were so important to human flourishing.
Ethics, Liberalism and Realism in International Relations will be of particular
interest to students and researchers of international relations theory, political
philosophy and foreign policy.
Mark D. Gismondi is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Inter-
national Studies at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho, USA.
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