Putting the world to rights: Britain's ethical foreign policy

Abstract

Although the announcement of New Labour's ‘ethical foreign policy’ has received much attention, the content of the ethical theory which informs Britainís international practice has not come under scrutiny. This paper suggests that, surprisingly, a rather sophisticated ‘neo‐Hegelian’ ethical theory underlines Labour's foreign policy, providing a constitutive theory of individuality. Contra realism, this theory does not stress state sovereignty at the expense of individual human rights, nor, and contrary to liberalism, does it prioritise individual human rights at the cost of states’ rights. In contrast, it suggests how a commitment to both state and individual rights may be accommodated within a single theory and practice of foreign policy.