New Wine and Old Bottles: International Politics and Ethical Discourse

by Jean Bethke Elshtain

Jean Bethke Elshtain challenges a powerful strand in western political thinking that separates the political and ethical realms. This is manifest above all in the claim that although the rule of justice might pertain between citizens, force is the ultimate arbiter between states and would-be states. But this claim fails to capture the many complex ways that political bodies deal with one another through norms and rules and not simply by force. Elshtain captures this alternative dimension by examining two dominant currents in international politics: sovereignty and nationalism. She shows the ways in which the historic understanding of sovereignty was deeply dependent on theological concepts, and demonstrates that much of contemporary life is marked by the mapping of concepts of sovereignty onto our understanding, not just of states but of persons. Over the years, many experts predicted confidently that the power of nationalism would abate as "rationalism" and "internationalism" spread. Elshtain explains why this prediction was flawed and accounts for the emergence of today's "new nationalism," the political passion of our time. She asks, Knowing the terrible cost of nationalistic excess, is there a defensible version of national identity and loyalty? With the late Sir Isaiah Berlin, Elshtain argues "yes." In her provocative epilogue, Elshtain asks whether there is room for forgiveness in international politics, and concludes on the speculative and hopeful note that ways might be found to break repetitive cycles of vengeance.

81 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Jean Bethke Elshtain is an American political philosopher. She is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and is a contributing editor for The New Republic. She is, in addition, newly the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom at Georgetown University. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and she has served on the Boards of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and the National Humanities Center. She is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and has received nine honorary degrees. In 2002, Elshtain received the Frank J. Goodnow award, the highest award for distinguished service to the profession given by the American Political Science Association.

The focus of Elshtain's work is an exploration of the relationship between politics and ethics. Much of her work is concerned with the parallel development of male and female gender roles as they pertain to public and private social participation. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks she has been one of the more visible academic supporters of U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Jean Bethke Elshtain, scholar of religion and political philosophy, 1941-2013 http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013...

Reviews

[Trice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ran across this book in a university library shortly after graduating college. I'm still working my way through her books and finding as many lectures online as I can. In the end, she was one of my academic heroes and one of those people I hoped I might meet. I didn't agree with all her conclusions, but always felt her reasoning and her voice were needed ones. She passed away Sunday (8/11/2013).

Others put things better: "The C.S. Lewis Foundation asks that you keep her family in prayer during this time of grieving. We note with joy–but not without personal sorrow–that Jean is now a citizen of the God’s Kingdom." In her memory and honor, the C.S. Lewis Foundation is offering a lecture of hers for free for a time: http://www.cslewis.org/product-catego...

Jean Bethke Elshtain, scholar of religion and political philosophy, 1941-2013

Jean Bethke Elshtain, a Political Scientist Unafraid to Talk God, Has Died: "'What I do is political theory with ethics as the heart of the matter,' she wrote in 2006."