1. What is the difference between deontological and consequentialist approaches to moral reasoning? What are the similarities and/or differences between this and the rule utilitarian approach (or what Nye calls a more sophisticated consequentialism on page 25)? How does Walzer’s discussion of issues of proportionality fit into this framework?

2. What is the difference between realist, state moralist, and cosmopolitan approaches to international ethics (see Nye)? Which of the above approaches to moral reasoning are adopted by each school of thought?

3. What are the differences between how realist scholars and their normative critics assess the moral duty of statesmen, the way in which ethical considerations should play a role in their conduct of foreign policy and the premises underlying their positions (i.e., the applicability of the Hobbesian ‘state of nature’ metaphor to international relations?

4. Why do realists like Kennan and Morgenthau object to moralism and legalism? How does McElroy challenge their argument?

5. Why does McElroy believe that norms matter to a greater extent than the realists predict in explaining state behavior and what examples does he use to support his thesis? What of cases in the readings where states have not pursued norm-governed behavior - e.g., Walzer’s discussion of German and British violations of the laws of neutrality or Samantha Power’s discussion of the American approach to the Genocide Convention and the problem of genocide?

6. What does Weber mean when he distinguishes an ethic of responsibility from an ethic of ultimate ends? Are there differences between Weber’s view and Machiavelli’s? How might Weber assess the case studies assigned in class involving FDR, Kissinger, and the Iran-Contra affair?

7. What does Walzer mean by the Legalist paradigm and what mix of deontological and consequentialist reasoning does he use to support it? What are the similarities to the international law perspective laid out by Henkin or the interpretations of the Just War theory spelled out by James Turner Johnson? How does Walzer’s view differ from realist, pacifist, and cosmopolitan views?