We are pleased to announce the publication of the Spring 2017 issue of Ethics & International Affairs.
This issue includes essays by Michael Ignatieff on human rights and the ordinary virtues; Kristy A. Belton on the prospect of ending statelessness in the Americas, the second of a two-part series; and Carmen Gómez Martín on the problematic nature of refugee camps as de facto long-term solutions. It also contains two features, one by Dan Bulley and the other by Alise Coen, presenting differing views on the relationship between the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) and the refugee protection regime, with a brief introduction by Jason Ralph and James Souter; a review essay on immigration ethics by Linda Bosniak; and book reviews by Andrew Altman, Andrew Hurrell, and William Gochberg.
ESSAYS
Human Rights, Global Ethics, and the Ordinary Virtues
Michael Ignatieff
Drawing on research from Carnegie Council site visits to eight countries, this essay explores whether human rights has become a global ethic, and, if so, how the concept of human rights influences or structures private moral decision-making.
Heeding the Clarion Call in the Americas: The Quest to End Statelessness
Kristy A. Belton
In 2014, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched the #IBelong Campaign to eradicate statelessness by 2024. Given that UN Secretary-General António Guterres and others have identified the Americas as having the potential to be the first region to end statelessness, this essay evaluates the region's progress towards that goal.
Rethinking the Concept of a “Durable Solution”: Sahrawi Refugee Camps Four Decades On [Full text]
Carmen Gómez Martín
The Sahrawi people have been housed in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria since 1975. This essay uses the case of the Sahrawi to illustrate the problematic nature of refugee camps, which are intended to serve a transitional purpose but ultimately become de facto long-term solutions, depriving refugees of their political and social rights indefinitely.
FEATURES: RtoP AND THE REFUGEE PROTECTION REGIME
Introduction
Jason Ralph and James Souter
Would states be moved to take in more refugees if the problem was framed explicitly in terms of RtoP? In January 2016, Jason Ralph and James Souter hosted a one-day workshop at the University of Leeds to discuss this issue, and here they present two papers that were originally delivered at that workshop.
Shame on EU? Europe, RtoP, and the Politics of Refugee Protection
Dan Bulley
In this feature, Dan Bulley argues that there is little to be gained by invoking the RtoP norm in the context of the refugee crisis. Rather than bolstering the EU's protection mechanisms, RtoP effectively authorizes the EU's current treatment of refugees.
Capable and Culpable? The United States, RtoP, and Refugee Responsibility-Sharing
Alise Coen
In this feature, Alise Coen takes as given that facilitating refugee protection represents an essential step towards upholding the norm of RtoP. By examining the past policy decisions of the United States, she argues for culpability as a criterion for assessing responsibilities to refugees, and shows how upholding these responsibilities can align with state interests.
REVIEW ESSAY
Immigration Ethics and the Context of Justice
Linda Bosniak
This review essay by Linda Bosniak engages David Miller's recent book Strangers in our Midst. Specifically, Bosniak highlights the tensions inherent in Miller's contextualist political theory of immigration.
REVIEWS [Full text]
Targeted Killing: A Legal and Political History
Markus Gunneflo
Review by Andrew Altman
Markus Gunneflo's recent book focuses on U.S. and Israeli counterterrorism policy since the 1980s and points to that decade as a formative era for present-day targeted killing practices. The author argues that post-9/11 developments did not represent such a distinct break with the past as is usually perceived.
The Global Transformation: History, Modernity and the Making of International Relations
Barry Buzan and George Lawson
Review by Andrew Hurrell
Barry Buzan and George Lawson's book argues that international relations as we know it today was born in the 19th century. Throughout, the book also contains extremely productive engagement with debates on western versus global modernity, the role of geopolitics in state formation, and others.
Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World
Leif Wenar
Review by William Gochberg
In this book, Leif Wenar carefully and thoroughly argues that resource consumers must accept complicity in the various ills of exporting countries. He also lays out plausible policies that might be effective in encouraging oil-rich countries to enact positive political change.
