Why environmental ethics matters to international relations

Current History

Volumn 99, Issue 640, 2000, Pages 361-364

  Barkdull, John ^a  

^a TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 33748910432     PISSN: 00113530     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (3)

1. For more on anthropocentric and biocentric ethics, see J. Baird Callicott, In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays for Environmental Philosophy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989).
2. See Callicott, In Defense of the Land Ethic.
3. This competition also influences the abilities of states to cooperate to deal with transnational environmental problems. States are expected to attempt to free ride or otherwise exploit the global "commons." If environmental cooperation occurs, it is likely due to a hegemonic power or small group of large powers imposing an international regime. Of course, the Hobbesian use of power to make and enforce law is the antithesis of democratic decision making (which could well be a major element of the society's vision of the good life). But because states are and must be short-sighted and self-interested, no alternative to coercive imposition of regimes exists. Whether such regimes would conform to the requisites of long-term environmental sustainability - much less to the integrity, beauty, and stability of the land - is doubtful.