Strategic Moral Diplomacy: Understanding the Enemy's Moral Universe - Hardcover

Strategic Moral Diplomacy addresses the most critical political problem of our time: how to negotiate seemingly incompatible moral values between nations. Normative and rational choice theories tend to simplify the actions and motives of leaders at the best, and paint enemies as immoral or evil at the worst. Boyd-Judson argues that it can be both strategically useful, as well as ethical, to assume an enemy has just moral concerns and give these claims credence.

Boyd-Judson uses the US and UN negotiations with Iran, Libya, Zimbabwe and Haiti to illustrate the practical application of strategic moral diplomacy. Through personal interviews with negotiators and those close to them, she unearths the complex moral positions held by those involved and arrives at workable suggestions for future diplomatic dilemmas. Critical to the education of global citizens and future diplomats, Strategic Moral Diplomacy is an irreplaceable teaching tool for discussing social justice, rogue states, and the importance of understanding moral psychology in international relations.