Ethics and Moral Reasoning in International Affairs

Challenges addressed include: The ‘just war’ and the use of force; limits and opportunities of humanitarian intervention; distributive justice amid poverty; and duties for tackling the global environmental tragedy.

Former U.S. Ambassador Jeff Hawkins joined the course as a Guest Speaker.

As part of a team, each student is placed in the role of a “protagonist” (typically a seasoned policy-maker) acting as a senior official facing a sudden adversity. Students are facing a problem out of the ordinary that requires a ‘hard choice’ that determines the fate of an organization/government agency and affects people’s lives.

The course is designed as follows:

• Setting the frame: Principles of moral decision-making in international affairs
• Moral and non-moral approaches in the decision-making process
• The use of force and the ethics of humanitarian intervention
• Justifying humanitarian intervention and promoting transitional justice
• Responsibilities in the face of poverty and the principles of distributive justice
• Environmental justice and climate change
• Moral dilemmas and the limits of markets
• Principles of Moral Agency: Maintaining Integrity, Dealing with Corruption and Wrongdoing, Bearing the Onus for Actions, Staying Alive
• Final student presentations

Jeff Hawkins, former U.S. diplomat with postings in several conflict-affected countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Central African Republic…) discussed the use of force and the ethics of humanitarian intervention. Attention was paid analytically and historically to the “Just War/Just Defense” ethic, due to the challenges from the nonviolent tradition and modern warfare. Case studies from the Gulf wars and Central African Republic crises were analyzed and debated.