Lesson Plans

Date: 06/24/09

The Council presents a series of lesson plans on ethical issues in international affairs. Topics include business ethics, climate change, and humanitarian intervention.

These lesson plans can be combined to create modules.

BE: Business Ethics

BE-01-01 Introduction to Business Ethics | 08/18/09
Beyond obedience to the law, what responsibility do corporations have to act ethically or in the social interest? Author(s): Devin T. Stewart, Christina Madden

BE-01-02 What is the Role of the Corporation in Society? | 08/18/09
What is the best way to promote sustainable business practices and solve global problems? Author(s): Devin T. Stewart, Christina Madden

BE-02-01 Corporate Human Rights Policies | 08/18/09
Are voluntary initiatives such as the UN Global Compact strong enough to effect real change in corporate human rights policies? Author(s): Devin T. Stewart

BE-02-02 Supply Chain Management | 08/18/09
How can multinational corporations effectively manage supply chains and promote sustainable practices throughout their operations? Author(s): Christina Madden

BE-03-01 Fighting Corruption | 08/18/09
In the development community, there is significant debate whether to prioritize anti-corruption efforts over economic development. Author(s): Devin T. Stewart

BE-03-02 The Green Economy | 08/18/09
Corporations increasingly realize the need to make their business models more environmentally sustainable. But with the outburst of enthusiasm for environmental causes has come a lot of hype. Author(s): Devin T. Stewart

CC: Climate Change

CC-01-01 Does Climate Change Exist? | 08/04/09
Al Gore states that the world's scientists are overwhelmingly in agreement that the world is warming because of human activities. Does consensus equal truth? Is climate change real? Author(s): Evan O'Neil

CC-01-02 Throwing Precaution to the Wind | 08/04/09
What level of scientific certainty is required before we take concerted action to combat global warming? The precautionary principle advocates caution, but this can cut two ways. Author(s): Evan O'Neil

CC-02-01 You Do It and You Clean It Up | 08/04/09
Two primary questions impede international climate negotiations: Whose responsibility is it to act first? And, whose carbon is it? Author(s): Evan O'Neil

CC-02-02 The Common Tragedy of Consumerism | 08/04/09
Should the costs of mitigating carbon emissions and moving to a sustainable economy be borne by consumers directly, or passed on to them through the supply chain by the companies and retailers with which they do business? Author(s): Evan O'Neil

CC-03-01 Crafting a Fair Climate Agreement | 08/04/09
Has the Kyoto Protocol been effective? How can the right to pollute be allocated fairly across nations? Do poor people have the right to subsistence emissions for survival? Author(s): Evan O'Neil

CC-03-02 Environment or Economy? | 08/04/09
Many argue that mitigating carbon dioxide will prove too costly to the global economy. Can our economy grow and grow green? Author(s): Evan O'Neil

HI: Humanitarian Intervention

HI-01-01 State Sovereignty and the Ethics of Intervention | 08/04/09
This introduces a series of tensions: between order and justice in international society; between realist and liberal takes on humanitarian intervention; between current international legal and normative orders; and between thinkers commenting on the intervention issue over time. Author(s): Adam Freeman

HI-01-02 Images, Empathy, and the Humanitarian Impulse | 08/04/09
In this lesson we discuss the role of emotions in motivating the humanitarian impulse, and the role of media and elite in conditioning the way we view humanitarian crises and action. Author(s): Adam Freeman

HI-01-03 Was the Iraq War a "Humanitarian" Intervention? | 08/04/09
This lesson takes the form of a classroom debate to reenact a heated discussion that took place in the pages of "Ethics & International Affairs" in 2005 between the international lawyer, Fernando Tesón, and the international political theorist, Terry Nardin. Author(s): Adam Freeman

HI-02-01 Somalia: A Failed Intervention? | 08/04/09
What do the decisions to intervene in Somalia and the subsequent decision to withdraw tell us about the relationship between domestic politics and humanitarianism? Author(s): Adam Freeman

HI-03-01 From the Right to Intervene to the Responsibility to Protect | 08/04/09
With ongoing inaction and non-coordination over the certain crises around the globe, can the responsibility to protect gather sufficient support, strength—can it even survive—so that we no longer have to witness or suffer "Rwandas" or "Kosovos"? Author(s): Adam Freeman

HI-03-03 Environmental Security and Ecological Intervention | 08/04/09
Is environmental protection a legitimate reason to interfere in the affairs of another state? Is the answer to this question the same for state interference as for the behavior of private individuals? What should be the role of international organizations? Author(s): Adam Freeman