Šárka Waisová Book order

In the past decades, an increasing emphasis on the principles and values can be observed in international relations and in the foreign policies of Western states. The book poses the question whether this is also demonstrated in Czech foreign policy, whether in the ease of the Czech Republic the ethics and values have infiltrated foreign policy, and describes the character of the Czech foreign policy in general. The basic thesis is that the Czech Republic has left the traditionally defined national interest and undergone a transformation towards an ethical foreign policy. The aim of the book is to watch the genesis of ethical Czech foreign policy and to answer the question to which extent Czech foreign policy follows moral principles and values.

Two important positions might be observed in the discussion about the importance of ethics for international politics and the relevance of ethics for the theoretical analysis of international relations. Some deny any connection between ethics and international politics; others believe that moral values are an essential component of international relations. The contributors assume that in an epoch of military interventions waged in the name of humanity and just war it is impossible to deny moral and ethical demands in international politics. The main hypothesis of this book is that the post-modern states are playing the role of norm entrepreneurs and promote Kantian ethics in international relations. The articles analyse in five case studies the development in post-modern states towards a moral foreign policy. Canada, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Slovenia are included in this analysis showing that Kantian ethics in international affairs is the ideal-typical position, and that some states have developed a foreign policy tending to this position.