Interstate Relations in Classical Greece: Morality and Power

by Polly Low

• ISBN13: 9780521124287
• ISBN10: 052112428X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-03
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In this book Dr Low explores the assumptions and principles which determined the conduct and representation of interstate politics in Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. She employs a wide range of ancient evidence, both epigraphic and literary, as well as some contemporary theoretical approaches from the field of International Relations. Taking a thematic rather than a chronological approach, she addresses topics such as the nature of interstate society in the Greek world; the sources, scope and enforcement of 'international law'; the nature of interstate ethics and morality; interventionism and imperialism; and the question of change and stability. She argues that Classical Greece's reputation for unrestrained and unsophisticated diplomacy is undeserved, and shows that relations between Greek city-states were shaped by and judged according to a complex network of customs, beliefs and expectations which pervaded all areas of interstate behaviour.

Table of Contents

Introduction

International Relations and Ancient History

A case study: Professor Sir Alfred Zimmern

Traditions of international relations: the history of the discipline

International relations and ancient history

Idealism, realism, and the problem of norms

Conclusion: the Ecclesia and the League of Nations

Structuring Interstate Relations

Introduction: society, system, and anarchy

No such thing as society? A system of reciprocal relationships

Reciprocity as the basis for a society

Multilateral societies and panhellenic communities

Conclusion: some examples

An Anarchic Society? International Law and International Custom

Introduction: law and society

Greek law, international law and Greek international law

The sources and scope of Greek international law

Application, enforcement and the problem of sanctions

Conclusions

Domestic Morality, Interstate Morality

Introduction: a domestic analogy?

Moral language: individuals and groups, selves and others

Assumptions of and arguments for similarity

Arguments for difference? Power, self-interest and justice

Conclusions

Norms and Politics: The Problem of Intervention

Introduction: the importance of intervention

Helping the wronged: intervention as an ideal

Intervention, autonomy and autonomia

Intervention, imperialism and ideology

Conclusions

Stability and Change

Introduction: an evaded dimension

A stable system

The problem of Thucydides

The Athenian Empire: structures, institutions and ethics

Conclusion

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