International Studies

This course provides an introduction to peace and justice in world affairs. Both concepts have many meanings and are used in many different ways. The course examines what they have meant in the context of an international order of sovereign states, and how ideas about peace and justice are changing as this international order is transformed by the forces of globalization. It begins by examining the meaning of peace and justice in the Westphalian system of sovereign states, the system through which international life has been organized in the modern era. The course then moves on to discuss the changes in the twentieth century that challenged the state-centric conception of peace and justice with the growing significance of non-state actors as agents shaping world affairs, and as objects of international legal and ethical concern. Sub-state insurgent groups, transnational terrorist networks, international non-governmental organizations and civil society groups, and international organizations such as the United Nations, are all covered as important players alongside states as agents of war and peace, or justice and injustice. Perhaps the most important expression of this change has been the rise of human rights discourse, which has provided an alternative normative language that rivals state sovereignty as the dominant framing of international justice. This course critically evaluates the Westphalian model, asking how peace and justice might be achieved among sovereign states and how much we might realistically expect. It also asks how far Westphalian norms have been eroded by recent developments in international life, and whether a post-Westphalian international order is a good thing. Students explore these central questions by looking at the most influential ways they have been approached in international relations theory, international ethics, and international law.