Anarchy, Evolution, and Ethics in International Relations

Challenging the Realist claim that international anarchy produces an amoral sphere of political action, Brian C. Rathbun argues that anarchy has selected for individuals with a particular moral sense. Flipping Realist arguments around, he claims that individuals would have never survived the hardships of anarchy if they were completely amoral. Rather, morality is a precondition for survival in anarchy. But unlike Constructivists, who maintain that socially constructed norms over time have civilized international politics, Rathbun claims that a morality is part of our human nature, and thus, a material feature of the world. To substantiate his claims, Rathbun adeptly applies insights from multiple disciplines, marshalling empirical evidence generated through a variety of natural and social scientific methods.