The Morality of Politics

This book deals with the morality, self-conception and honour of states, something that goes well beyond the narrow, rationalist defence of national interests, which dominates most IR studies. The volume pursues this line of thinking by focussing on three different but interconnected thematics: political moralism, the honour of states and the peace/war-problematic. The moral self-conception of states – which comes most clearly to the fore in situations of war – rests on the ideal conception of ‘