Political theory and international relations

Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-235) and index.

Pt. 1. International Relations as a State of Nature. 1. The Skepticism of the Realists. 2. The Hobbesian Situation. 3. International Relations as a State of Nature. 4. The Basis of International Morality. 5. From International Skepticism to the Morality of States -- Pt. 2. The Autonomy of States. 1. State Autonomy and Individual Liberty. 2. Nonintervention, Paternalism, and Neutrality. 3. Self-determination. 4. Eligibility, Boundaries, and Nationality. 5. Economic Dependence. 6. State Autonomy and Domestic Social Justice -- Pt. 3. International Distributive Justice. 1. Social Cooperation, Boundaries, and the Basis of Justice. 2. Entitlements to Natural Resources. 3. Interdependence and Global Distributive Justice. 4. Contrasts between International and Domestic Society. 5. The Rights of States. 6. Applications to the Nonideal World.

"In this revised edition of his 1979 classic Political Theory and International Relations, Charles Beitz rejects two highly influential conceptions of international theory as empirically inaccurate and theoretically misleading.

In one, international relations is a Hobbesian state of nature in which moral judgments are entirely inappropriate, and in the other, states are analogous to persons in domestic society in having rights of autonomy that insulate them from external moral assessment and political interference.

Beitz postulates that a theory of international politics should include a revised principle of state autonomy based on the justice of a state's domestic institutions, and a principle of international distributive justice to establish a fair division of resources and wealth among persons situated in diverse national societies."--BOOK JACKET.