A Map and Theory of International Morality

• In Event: Ethics in International Practice: The Politics of Responsibility and Obligation

Abstract

What kind of morality undergirds states’ stated positions on important international issues? Despite the routine invocation of moral language by practitioners of international politics, IR lacks a systematic empirical understanding of the types of morality that operate in the international realm. In order to address these concerns, this paper presents a study of moral arguments in international politics from 1990-2017 and posits a theory of performative international morality, linking normative ethical theory and empirical reality. The theory argues that the moral frameworks of consequentialism and deontology have distinct implications for the constitution of states’ moral identities. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, I map the diversity of moral arguments used by states to discuss humanitarian military intervention, climate change, and refugee crises. I do so by compiling a new corpus of United Nations meeting records which document floor speeches and statements by country delegates. Second, I leverage this data to show how moral discourse varies across actors and the issues they discuss. Finally, I consider how moral discourse constitutes the identities of states as moral agents as well as the phenomenon of international morality itself.

Author

• Linnea Turco, The Ohio State University