Towards a Normative Theory of International Relations
A Critical Analysis of the Philosophical and Methodological Assumptions in the Discipline with Proposals Towards a Substantive Normative Theory

An examination of the moral theory of war.

Mervyn Frost (Author)

9780521125062, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 December 2009

252 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.33 kg

When is war justified? When is intervention in the domestic affairs of other states justified? Is international terrorist activity ever justified? Is the policy of nuclear deterrence morally defensible? These questions are clearly of the utmost importance, yet scholars in the discipline of international relations have for the most part avoided moral theory. Part One of this book examines the reasons put forward (or implicitly accepted) for ignoring moral theory and finds that none of them stands up to close scrutiny. In Part Two a start is made towards the construction of a normative theory which will be useful in seeking answers to the crucial questions listed above. The theory put forward is called constitutive theory and it is argued that constitutive theory is more satisfactory than utilitarianism, order-based theories or rights-based theories. In the final chapter constitutive theory is applied to the moral problems surrounding international terrorism.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: 1. The positivist bias: a philosophical assumption which accounts for the dearth of normative theory in the discipline of international relations
2. Sceptical and realist arguments against normative theory in international relations: a critical appraisal
Part II: 3. Normative issues in international relations: the domain of discourse and the method of argument
4. Towards the construction of a normative theory of international relations
5. Reconciling rights and sovereignty: the constitutive theory of individuality
6. The justification of unconventional violence in international relations: a hard case for normative theory
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]