Interstate Relations in Classical Greece: Morality and Power

by Polly Low

• ISBN13: 9780521872065
• ISBN10: 0521872065
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-05-28
• 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

Preface	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
International Relations and Ancient History	p. 7
A case study: Professor Sir Alfred Zimmern	p. 7
Traditions of International Relations: the history of the discipline	p. 8
International Relations and Ancient History	p. 16
Idealism, Realism and the problem of norms	p. 22
Conclusion: the Ecclesia and the League of Nations	p. 30
Structuring interstate relations	p. 33
Introduction: society, system and anarchy	p. 33
No such thing as society? A system of reciprocal relationships	p. 36
Reciprocity as the basis for a society	p. 43
Multilateral societies and panhellenic communities	p. 54
Conclusion: some examples	p. 68
An anarchic society? International law and international custom	p. 77
Introduction: law and society	p. 77
Greek law, international law and Greek international law	p. 78
The sources and scope of Greek international law	p. 83
Application, enforcement and the problem of sanctions	p. 102
Conclusions	p. 126
Domestic morality, interstate morality	p. 129
Introduction: a domestic analogy?	p. 129
Moral language: individuals and groups, selves and others	p. 132
Assumptions of and arguments for similarity	p. 151
Arguments for difference? Power, self-interest and justice	p. 160
Conclusions	p. 173
Norms and politics: the problem of intervention	p. 175
Introduction: the importance of intervention	p. 175
Helping the wronged: intervention as an ideal	p. 177
Intervention, autonomy and autonomia	p. 187
Intervention, imperialism and ideology	p. 199
Conclusions	p. 210
Stability and change	p. 212
Introduction: an evaded dimension	p. 212
A stable system	p. 213
The problem of Thucydides	p. 222
The Athenian Empire: structures, institutions and ethics	p. 233
Conclusion	p. 248
Conclusion	p. 252
Bibliography	p. 258
Index	p. 299
Index locorum	p. 308
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