Five Uneasy Pieces: American Ethics in a Globalized World

Americans pride themselves on being an ethical people. They go to church, quote the Bible, erect statues, and discuss morality with abandon. They also trust their government to do the right thing when it comes to delivering legal justice and conducting foreign policy. Trouble is, American foreign policy has yielded some pretty spectacular ethical lapses, and (as 9/11 starkly demonstrated) the world is beginning to notice. Here, Mark Gibney lays out some of the most egregious insults the U.S. has visited upon international law, economic justice, and human rights in recent times. He covers everything from multinational corporations, the first Persian Gulf war, and Guantanamo Bay to American refugee policy, foreign aid, and global environmental degradation. Through all these examples, he exposes the discrepancy between the guise of ethical policy motivation and the reality of situational international ethics―or worse. He shows us how we practice 'easy ethics' in an uneasy world, and how it is beginning to catch up with us. Part I concludes with a gallop through the alphabet of countries where the U.S. has engaged in nefarious legal behavior and supported brutal dictatorships―everywhere from Argentina to Zaire. Part II offers a cautious 'coda of hope' in exploring recent trends toward public political apology and forgiveness, new U.S. policies toward AIDS in Africa, and renewed civic commitment flowing out of the tragedy of 9/11. Only when the exercise of American ethics becomes as muscular as our use of military force will the United States become the ethical superpower it projects itself to be. And only then will the concert of nations join us in the harmonization of global governance.

Politics & Social Sciences

Gibney University of North Carol, Mark

Philosophy

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

International Human Rights Law: Returning to Universal Principles

This clear and compelling text confronts the dominant thinking on human rights, taking issue with the notion adopted by all states and even many academics that human rights obligations extend no further than their own territorial borders. Mark Gibney critiques cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, the International Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights, arguing for a much broader reading of state responsibility on the basis that current law misses most of the ways in which states fail to protect human rights standards. Finally, Gibney takes up the issue of human rights enforcement, unquestionably the weakest aspect of international human rights law. He proposes several practical models that could begin to provide victims the “effective remedy” promised by the law itself. The book concludes that there is a moral and legal imperative to return to the universal principles human rights were founded on. And rather than witnessing the end of human rights—as some have suggested—we should see our times as the true beginning.

Foreign & International Law

This clear and compelling text offers a vastly different approach to human rights. Arguing that not only are human rights universal, but so are the obligations to protect these rights, Mark Gibney concludes that there is a moral and legal imperative to return to the universal principles human rights were founded on.

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Books by Gibney University of North Carol, Mark

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gibney University of North Carol, Mark. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Five Uneasy Pieces: American Ethics in a Globalized World

International Human Rights Law: Returning to Universal Principles

International Human Rights Law: Returning to Universal Principles