International Political Theory

An account of the competing schools of thought in traditional and contemporary international theory, offering new ways of thinking about international political morality. It explains the role and place of normative theory in international politics, critically examines mainstream approaches in international relations and applied ethics, and introduces the central debates between realists and idealists, cosmopolitans and communitarians. The conceptual challenges of approaches in critical theory, postmodernism and feminism are outlined, and the author develops her Hegelian-Foucauldian approach to normative international theory. Insights from each approach are then applied to two key topics in the contemporary debate: the right to self-determinism; and the idea of cosmopolitan democracy. Conclusions are drawn for transcending the theoretical deadlock in international relations.