Ethics & International Affairs Volume 23.1 (Spring 2009)
Date: 03/26/09
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This issue features a Roundtable on the idea of a "league" or "concert" of democracies, with contributions from James M. Lindsay, Stephen Schlesinger, Kishore Mahbubani, and Ruth Wedgwood.
It also includes an essay on populism and democracy in Latin America by Francisco Panizza and Romina Miorelli, and an article on "the myth of 'Torture Lite'" by Jessica Wolfendale, with a response from David Sussman. In addition the journal includes book reviews and a "Briefly Noted" section, which covers recent books in the field of international affairs. |
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| Roundtable: Can Democracies Go It Alone? |
| Introduction: Can Democracies Go It Alone? [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
The idea that democratic states should establish exclusive venues for international cooperation provides an opportunity for reflection on the global role of the U.S. and other liberal democracies, and on the future of multilateralism and the UN system. |
| The Case for a Concert of Democracies [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
Over a whole range of challenges, the world is essentially undergoverned. New institutions are needed that recognize how much the world has changed and that mobilize those states most capable of meeting the dangers we confront. Author(s): James M. Lindsay |
| Why a League of Democracies Will Not Work [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
The proposal for a league of democracies is fraught with a number of fundamental flaws. In fact, much of what these democracy strategists are seeking can be obtained within the existing universal security institution, the UN. Author(s): Stephen Schlesinger |
| The Dangers of Democratic Delusions [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
A "League of Democracies," according to Mahbubani, will divide the world at the very time that a new global consensus needs to be created to address pressing global challenges. Author(s): Kishore Mahbubani |
| Democracies, Human Rights, and Collective Action [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
A caucus of democracies and liberal states within the UN could aim to crosscut the UN's deeply entrenched hegemonic voting patterns and support and celebrate the purposes and claims of democracy. Author(s): Ruth Wedgwood |
| ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: For a Federation of Democracies (Response to Stephen Schlesinger)
- 08/28/09
Davenport argues for a federation of democracies to replace the United Nations Security Council. This new level of government, he says, is necessary to achieve the international cooperation needed to manage a global economy and address global problems. Author(s): John J. Davenport |
| Essay |
| Populism and Democracy in Latin America [Excerpt]
- 03/26/09
The populism that is sweeping Latin America seeks, like democracy, to enact the sovereign rule of the people. Nevertheless, democrats and populists diverge over how to establish a just and enduring political order. Author(s): Francisco Panizza, Romina Miorelli |
| Features |
| The Myth of "Torture Lite" [Excerpt]
- 03/26/09
Although the term "torture lite" is frequently used to distinguish between physically mutilating torture and certain interrogation methods that are supposedly less severe, the distinction is not recognized in international law. Author(s): Jessica Wolfendale |
| "Torture Lite": A Response [Excerpt]
- 03/26/09
A morally significant distinction between full torture and torture lite, says Sussman, would attend to the role that fear and hope play in the experience. Full torture would thus be treatment that aims to make its victim feel absolutely vulnerable and utterly powerless. Author(s): David Sussman |
| Book Reviews |
| "Multicultural Odysseys: Navigating the New International Politics of Diversity" by Will Kymlicka [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
Kymlicka extends his well known and widely respected defense of a liberal conception of multiculturalism to all states of the world, and asks causal questions about why liberal multiculturalism is spreading internationally. |
| "The Moral Force of Indigenous Politics: Critical Liberalism and the Zapatistas" by Courtney Jung [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
Jung offers a normatively informed and empirically grounded critique of approaches that justify minority rights on the basis of the need to protect culture. |
| "Democracy Across Borders: Dêmos to Dêmoi" by James Bohman [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
Bohman notes the extensive interdependence that characterizes the new circumstances of global politics, and argues that states have reacted either by strengthening state boundaries and increasing centralized authority or by delegating political authority. |
| "International Trade and Labor Standards: A Proposal for Linkage" by Christian Barry and Sanjay G. Reddy [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
Barry and Reddy challenge us to envision a world where workers everywhere can make a living wage in safe conditions and globalization does not drive us to compete in a desperate "race to the bottom." |
| "Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization" by David Singh Grewal [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
According to Grewal, we need to understand globalization as a process in which we participate by choice but not necessarily voluntarily—one in which common standards allow more effective coordination, yet also entrap us in their pull for convergence. |
| "The End of the West? Crisis and Change in the Atlantic Order" by Jeffrey Anderson, G. John Ikenberry, and Thomas Risse [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
This edited collection takes stock of the state of the Western alliance, seeking both to improve our theoretical understanding of conflict and crisis and to examine the relevance of theories of politics and international relations. |
| Briefly Noted |
| Briefly Noted [Full Text]
- 03/26/09
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs. |
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