New Wine and Old Bottles: International Politics and Ethical Discourse
Jean Bethke Elshtain, the 1996 Hesburgh Lecturer on Ethics and Public Policy, challenges a powerful strand in western political thinking that separates the political and ethical realms. This is manifest above all in the claim that although the rule of justice might pertain between citizens, force is the ultimate arbiter between states and would-be states. But this claim fails to capture the many complex ways that political bodies deal with one another through norms and rules and not simply by force. Elshtain captures this alternative dimension by examining two dominant currents in international politics: sovereignty and nationalism. She shows the ways in which the historic understanding of sovereignty was deeply dependent on theological concepts, and demonstrates that much of contemporary life is marked by the mapping of concepts of sovereignty onto our understanding, not just of states but of persons.
Over the years, many experts predicted confidently that the power of nationalism would abate as "rationalism" and "internationalism" spread. Elshtain explains why this prediction was flawed and accounts for the emergence of today's "new nationalism," the political passion of our time. She asks, Knowing the terrible cost of nationalistic excess, is there a defensible version of national identity and loyalty? With the late Sir Isaiah Berlin, Elshtain argues "yes." In her provocative epilogue, Elshtain asks whether there is room for forgiveness in international politics, and concludes on the speculative and hopeful note that ways might be found to break repetitive cycles of vengeance.
Together with Elshtain's lectures, this volume offers responses by Fred Dallmayr and Martha Merritt and a foreword by Raimo Väyrynen, John M. Regan, Jr. Director of the Kroc Institute.
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"A strikingly fresh approach to thinking about power among and within nations. Elshtain succeeds in deflating the claims of sovereignty while showing how the idea of a world-state is full of unwelcome implications. The theme of forgiveness in political life is treated with great sensitivity. This is a wonderful book." --George Kateb, Princeton University
"These are very subtle reflections on sovereignty and nationalism, marked both by scholarship and deep moral concern. They speak to scholars and common readers alike and deserve a wide audience." --M. Ignatieff, author of Warrior's Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience
"Rationalism and internationalism have obviously not wiped out dangerous nationalistic excesses, and ethics is thus an important element to include in politics. And as a part of ethics there is also the need for a politics of forgiveness. All in all a book modest in size but broad in scope." --New Routes
"In this splendid, short volume, Elshtain (Univ. of Chicago) explores the interconnection of power and ethics in internation relations by analyzing two key doctrines of contemporary public life-sovereignty and nationalism." --Choice
"Elshtain's book, a published version of her 1996 Hesburgh Lectures at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, is very different. The centrality of these themes for contemporary international politics -- when the names Bosnia, Rwanda, and perhaps soon Kosovo, are written into the annals of Western dishonor -- cannot be emphasized too much." --International Affairs
"In these lectures, Elshtain, one of America's most respected ethicists, treats us to some somber and reflective thinking on the theory and practice of nation-states in today's world. This book is a refreshing examination of what is possible in the complex realm of ethics and international politics. It reminds us that it is still possible to fortify what is valuable and virtuous in the world's vast array of religions, cultures, and traditions." --Journal of Church and State
"This book is a much-needed vision of international politics that goes well beyond the dichotomies of idealism and realism, internationalism and nationalism, ethical obligation and pure interest." --Recent Books on Ethics and International Affairs
"Elshtain's book is intriguing, and of special interest to students of ethics and sovereignty. . . As we reach the dawn of a new millenium, scholars and practicioners alike would be wise to heed the ideas put forth in this book." --Rhertoric & Public Affairs
"In this book, the topic of nationalism becomes a playing field for tensions in Elshtain's thought--the universal vs. the particular, identity vs. loyalty, force vs. dialogue, one will vs. a plurality of wills." --Religious Studies Review
"In a most engaging way, Jean Bethke Elshtain leads us on a journey until, without quite knowing how we got there, we find ourselves in the midst of important and complex issues concerning state-sovereignty and nationality--not overwhelmed, but illuminated. Learned, thoughtful, graceful, truly wise, always hopeful but never naive: this is both an excellent introduction and an important contribution to the lively contemporary conversation on these issues." --Nicholas P. Wolterstorff, Yale Divinity School
