The liberal-communitarian debate in contemporary political philosophy and its significance for international relations

This article examines the debate between liberalism and communitarianism in contemporary political philosophy and considers its significance for inter national relations. The debate tends to pose a false dichotomy between libe ralism and communitarianism, and neither position alone can provide an adeq uate basis for international relations theory. It is necessary to go beyond the liberal-communitarian divide in order to reconcile the valuable insigh ts that may be rescued from both positions. There is a community which is a moral reality, which includes all individuals and maintains their moral in tegrity, and which can accommodate all legitimate, smaller communities. Thi s is the community of humanity, which is recognized in traditional theories of natural law and the law of nations. The article concludes by considerin g whether the universal community of humanity requires and justifies world government.