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International Relations and Communitarianism
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International Relations and Communitarianism

Edited by:
  • Emily Pryor - Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies, Washington D.C


July 2005 | 140 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Communitarianism is an intriguing social theory that states community and the social bonds of family, traditional values, and education are the main building blocks of a new supranational global order.  One of its strongest proponents, Amitai Etzioni, posits that  the "transnational threats facing humankind today are so overwhelming that soon all nations will experience a convergence of values and priorities, which will lay the groundwork for eventual global governance. " The eight articles presented by the August 2005 issue of American Behavioral Scientist offer a fascinating and spirited dialogue regarding the concurrences and contradictions of communitarianism within the context of international relations. They tackle a range of topics first addressed in Etzioni's treatise From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations, including:

  • Evaluating the European Union as a test case for communitarianism (Goldgeier)
  • How communitarianism predicts that U.S. hegemony will be transcended and how this fits in with the U.S.', particularly the Bush administration's, grand strategy (Hentz)
  • Does Etizioni's nationalistic approach to U.S. foreign policy negate communitarianism's ethical problem-solving framework? (Falk)
  • Communitarian Realism and the emergence of common norms through coping with global challenges (Gvosdev)
  • The four fatal flaws of Communitarianism (Gray)
  • Whether sustainable economic or political integration is possible without global social assimilation taking place (Müllerson)
  • Etzioni's Response, including a quick summary of  the communitarian paradigm (Etzioni)
  • A call by Ambassador Max M. Kampelman to bolster international community through the elimination of all nuclear weapons, the establishment of a national voluntary Civilian Conservation Corps for 18-21 year olds, and the creation of a new education incentive along the lines of the Roosevelt G.I. Bill of Rights.

This issue offers a balanced view of  a much-disputed theory and belongs in the library of every political scientist , sociologist , and everyone interested in the state of the world around them.


Emily Pryor
Introduction
James M. Goldgeier
A Communitarian Future: What Can the EU Experience Teach Us?
James J. Hentz
International Relations Theory, Communitarianism, and U.S. Grand Strategy: Whither Africa?
Richard Falk
The Communitarian Approach to International Relations and the Future of World Order
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
Communitarian Realism
Colin S. Gray
Sandcastle of Theory: A Critique of Amitai Etzioni’s Communitarianism
Rein Müllerson
Being Tough on Terrorism or Respecting Human Rights: A False Dilemma of Authoritarian and Liberal Responses
Amitai Etzioni
Response
Emily Pryor
Introduction
James M. Goldgeier
A Communitarian Future: What Can the EU Experience Teach Us?
James J. Hentz
International Relations Theory, Communitarianism, and U.S. Grand Strategy: Whither Africa?
Richard Falk
The Communitarian Approach to International Relations and the Future of World Order
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
Communitarian Realism
Colin S. Gray
Sandcastle of Theory: A Critique of Amitai Etzioni’s Communitarianism
Rein Müllerson
Being Tough on Terrorism or Respecting Human Rights: A False Dilemma of Authoritarian and Liberal Responses
Amitai Etzioni
Response
Max M. Kampelman
An Alternative Route to a Global Community

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Paperback
ISBN: 9781412938037
$42.00