Welcome to our roundup of news and current events related to ethics and international affairs! Here’s what we’ve been reading this autumn:
Photo Credit: Glen Scarborough
NYTimes: If War Can Have Ethics, Wall Street Can Too
Both war and the free market have, at times, been considered unmanageable spheres of activity subject to laws of their own, but an effort can (and should) be made to curb their ethical transgressions.
Read more on market regulation and just war theory in Ethics and International Affairs:
Rethinking Central Bank Accountability in Uncertain Times by Jacqueline Best
Just War Theory and the Last of Last Resort by Eamon Aloyo
The Ethical Imperative of Curbing Corporate Tax Avoidance by David Scheffer
♦ ♦ ♦
Photo Credit: University of Amsterdam, Atis Library
The Economist: A Tale of Two Ethics: Why Many Germans Think Impractical Idealism Is Immoral
Max Weber's fundamental distinction between two approaches to politics--the ethic of conviction and the ethic of responsibility--informs contemporary Germany's allegiance to practical, rather than idealist, political platforms.
Read more on the limits of metaphysical and practical ethical standpoints in Ethics and International Affairs:
Just War Thinking as a Social Practice by John Kelsay
A Global Ethic and the Hybrid Character of the Moral World by Nicholas Rengger
Reimagining a Global Ethic by Michael Ignatieff
♦ ♦ ♦
Photo Credit: U.S. Department of State
Foreign Affairs: Taking Stock of the Stockpile
The United States' nuclear policy has been trending towards non-proliferation but, given recent developments in American domestic politics and international relations, a re-evaluation of this policy may be necessary.
Read more on the role of nuclear arsenals in diplomacy, and on the ethics of nonproliferation in Ethics and International Affairs:
Nonproliferation: A Global Issue for a Global Ethic by J. Bryan Hehir
The Threat of Nuclear Proliferation: Perception and Reality by Jacques E. C. Hymans
The Nonproliferation Complex by Campbell Craig and Jan Ruzicka
♦ ♦ ♦
Photo Credit: Lt. Colonel Leslie Pratt
Forbes: How AI, Drones and Big Data Are Reshaping the Future of Warfare
Explore the implications of automatized warfare and the consequences it holds for asymmetrical power struggles.
Read more on autonomous weapon systems and big data in modern warfare in Ethics and International Affairs:
Autonomous Weapon Diplomacy: the Geneva Debates by Jean-Baptiste Jeangene Vilmer
Robots and Respect: Assessing the Case Against Autonomous Weapon Systems by Robert Sparrow
Big Data and International Relations by Andrej Zwitter
♦ ♦ ♦
Photo Credit: Ibrahim Qasim
#/media/File:Yemeni_soldiers_from_the_1st_Armoured_Division.JPG){kind=link}
Time Magazine: The Human Rights Abuses in Yemen's "Forgotten War"
The conflict in Yemen between government forces and Houthi rebels emerged out of the Arab Spring protests and has since claimed the lives of over 10,000 people.
Read more about the ethics of human rights, the responsibility to protect, and humanitarian interventions in Ethics and International Affairs.
"Responsibility to Protect" on Trial-- or Assad? by Alex Bellamy and Tim Dunne
The Ethics of Arming Rebels by James Pattison
International Rescue and Mediated Consequences by Ned Dobos
♦ ♦ ♦
Photo Credit: Mark Koester
The Washington Post: Colombia's opposition wants to modify peace deal--with a scalpel, not a hammer
After voters shocked the Colombian government, and the world, by rejecting a peace accords with FARC, the opposition has put forward its proposal to revise the deal.
Read more about peace accords in domestic and international politics in Ethics and International Affairs:
Peace as a Transnational Theme by Akira Iriye
Concepts of Peace: From 1013 to the Present by Nigel Young
Viewing Peace through Gender Lenses by Laura Sjoberg
♦ ♦ ♦
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Vox: The biggest climate change story in the world this week is quietly playing out in Rwanda
Increased demand for air conditioners and refrigerators in countries like China and India has exacerbated greenhouse gas emissions, but states are hoping to curb the effects by amending the Montreal Protocol.
Read more about global warming and environmental regulation in Ethics and International Affairs:
Governing the Environment: Three Motivating Factors by Susan Park
The Dawning of an Earth Ethic by Scott Russell Sanders
A Call for a Global Constitutional Convention Focused on Future Generations by Stephen M. Gardiner