Liberty Abroad
J. S. Mill on International Relations

A comprehensive analysis of the international political pronouncements of John Stuart Mill: the pre-eminent thinker of the liberal tradition.

Georgios Varouxakis (Author)

9781108400886, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 April 2017

276 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.5 cm, 0.41 kg

'One striking aspect of this book is how many of the issues raised by Mill still remain significant today. For example, Mill wrote some particularly interesting comments on international law, a term still now used rather imprecisely and often according to political convenience.' Michael Levin, The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms

John Stuart Mill (1806–73) is widely regarded as the pre-eminent thinker of the liberal tradition; and yet because his views on international relations cannot be traced in any particular book or essay, his political thought remains largely misunderstood. Liberty Abroad is the first comprehensive, critical study which brings together all of John Stuart Mill's extensive contributions with particular attention to the historical contexts in which they were produced, as well as the political and philosophical preoccupations that prompted them, and how they were received among his contemporaries. A leading Mill scholar, Dr Georgios Varouxakis combines an extraordinary command of Mill's varied and extensive writings with a meticulous mastery of a range of Victorian controversies and thinkers to give a full, subtle evaluation of a major aspect of Mill's thought. This definitive study offers a major contribution to an area of increasing scholarly interest: the history of international political thought.

1. Introduction: Mill and international politics
2. International law and international morality
3. Inter-state treaties and international morality
4. Redefining non-intervention
5. A few words on Mill on empire
6. War and peace
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]