Duties Beyond Borders - (Frank W. Abrams Lectures) by Stanley Hoffmann (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Can moral behavior exist in a world of states? Under what conditions? Where if at all, do norms for moral behavior, considerations of right and wrong, fit in the relations between states?

Drawing upon many historical examples, Stanley Hoffmann examines the complex questions of whether or not ethical action is possible in international politics and, if it is, what are the obstacles and constraints? Duties Beyond Borders tries to answer these questions and to suggest a course of "ethical politics" based on a pragmatic, realistic approach to international politics.

Review Quotes

A wonderful combination of skeptical realism and moral commitment. The result is a challenging piece of political theory--and also (what most political theory isn't) a guide to statesmen.-- "Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University"

Hoffmann addresses the age-old problem of the place of morality in relations among states. Being a liberal humanist and also a keen observer of the game of power politics and the pursuit of national advantage as it has been and still is played, he is constantly searching for the compromises and balances and practical forward steps that will maximize the possibilities for human rights and a more just and moderate world order--and one which will survive. He does so with his usual display of learning, rationality, and felicity of expression.-- "Foreign Affairs"

About the Author

Stanley Hoffmann is the author of Primacy or World Order: American Policy since the Cold War, Decline or Renewal? France since the 1930s, and Gulliver's Troubles, or Setting of American Foreign Policy.