I hope you are having a good summer and looking forward to a rewarding (and academically successful) year ahead of you.
Although we are still in the grips of summer, I wanted to let you know a little about how we will structure our discussion of Ethics and International Relations next semester.
I have taught this module for the past four years and each group of students brings out important new questions about the conduct andstructure of the international system. I am hoping that you will take part in this challenge and take a leading role in shaping the debate around the role of ethics in international politics.
There are a couple of housekeeping matters that I wanted to alert you to. These relate to the feedback from previous years and my desire to ensure that the module is both historical and contemporary. I was able to adjust the assessment for the module over the summer and this has meant that there is no exam for the module. The assessment that replaces the exam is a Think Tank Policy Task. The Think Tank Policy Task asks you to identify a policy or ethical area within international politics and make important recommendations for action or justice or intervention.
In terms of the seminars, these will require reading that is both theoretical and policy-relevant. We will model our seminar groups on discussions that take place in think tanks and research institutes which are concerned with international ethics, such as the Carnegie Council which publishes the influential journal Ethics and International Relations and Chatham House which plays an important role in foreign policy and regional studies in the UK.
The seminars are not just about questions and answers, but require you to be ‘ethical entrepreneurs’ (yes, I’m aware of the problems of such a term). The main thing I want to emphasise is that ethics is a living discourse, questions of right and wrong are the stuff of international politics not just a late addition.
Thomas Moore
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