Förster, Annette
(2012)
Decent peace, stability and justice: John Rawls’s international theory applied.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
John Rawls’s international theory, The Law of Peoples, has been read and
criticized as “A Theory of International Justice”. His major objective, however, is
not the establishment of a just (liberal) world order, but to guide liberal societies
towards a reasonable peaceful, stable and just international system. From this
starting point, the thesis assesses whether Rawls’s international theory can
meet its task to function as a guideline for the promotion of international peace,
stability and justice and how that peace might be conceived. The author argues
that Rawls sketches the path to a “decent peace”.
The scrutiny of the issue takes the form of an in-depth analysis and discussion
of The Law of Peoples and a systematic investigation of a number of cases. The
dissertation examines the possible contribution of Rawls’s ideas, primarily the
Society of Peoples and the principles of the Law of Peoples, to international
peace, stability and justice. As the focus lies on decent regimes and a decent
peace, three actual decent societies are identified (Oman, Qatar and
Singapore), in order to highlight the applicability of the notion to the international
system, as well as to ensure that decent regimes are not mere constructions
serving to justify imposing liberal principles of non-liberal regimes. The
dissertation finally investigates the enlargement of the democratic peace thesis
towards a decent peace; it discusses the arguments for a democratic peace and
applies them to Rawls’s conception of decent peoples as well as to the identified
regimes. It concludes asserting that the decent peace thesis is theoretically wellfounded, whereas the empirical evidence is – due to only three identified
regimes – rather weak. As a guideline for the foreign policy of liberal (and
decent) societies The Law of Peoples can contribute to more stability and justice
in the international realm and promote a decent peace.
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