Countries intervening in each others鈥� conflicts, and the problems of delivering aid programs amid domestic crises, are some of the issues explored in a special edition of a leading international relations journal.
鈥檚 and have contributed to and guest edited the issue of the A-ranked journal .
鈥淲e have seen much debate recently about the role of the international community, particularly in regard to intervention in conflicts in the Middle East,鈥� Dr McDonald said.
鈥淭his edition of the journal examines the possibilities for 鈥� and limits to 鈥� progressive action that states and international institutions can take in an imperfect world.鈥�
Dr McDonald said the journal offered insights on 鈥渉ow progressive foreign policy can and should work in this era of rapid social change鈥�. The articles would make 鈥渁 significant contribution to the theory and practice of internationalism鈥�.
鈥淟iberal internationalism is concerned with the obligation individual nations have to other nations, and how states can reconcile their responsibilities to their own citizens with their obligations to others in world politics,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his covers areas such as aid programs, the responsibility to protect and circumstances where intervention in other countries鈥� affairs is considered necessary.鈥�
Professor Dunne said conservative thinkers often claimed liberal internationalism was flawed because sovereign states only acted in ways that advanced their narrow national self-interest.
鈥淲e challenge that assumption in The Politics of Liberal Internationalism; the articles in the journal directly ask how ethical behaviour is possible in the contemporary international system, and what that means for pivotal international actors such as the United Nations and the United States,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he journal outlines key debates about what internationalism means, the strengths and weaknesses of this approach to foreign policy and what possibilities exist for states and institutions such as the UN to pursue 鈥榩urposes beyond ourselves鈥�.鈥�
The articles suggested liberal internationalism had much to offer in helping states meet their international obligations and in guiding how key political institutions can and should act in world politics.
Other contributors to the journal from 国产探花鈥檚 were and , and the school鈥檚 new Chair in International Relations, Professor Christian Reus-Smit.
The publication coincided with Professor Reus-Smit's move to 国产探花 from the .
Authors also include Associate Professor Anthony Burke (University of New South Wales), Professor Ian Clark (Aberystwyth University), Dr Peter Lawler (The University of Manchester) and Dr Jacinta O'Hagan (Australian National University).
Professor Dunne said that the fact that such a prestigious group of experts had written on internationalism for this edition of the journal 鈥渟ays a great deal about the networks POLSIS staff have generated鈥�.
The publication followed a workshop at 国产探花 in 2011, funded by POLSIS and a workshop grant from the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia.
The journal edition is . An by Professor Reus-Smit and Professor Clark can be accessed free.
For more details, contact Professor Dunne (tim.dunne@uq.edu.au), Dr McDonald (matt.mcdonald@uq.edu.au) or Ms Gillian Ievers, POLSIS communications, g.ievers@uq.edu.au, ph +61 7 3365 3308.
