Climate Change and Sovereignty

Joshua J. Kassner is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Baltimore, where he teaches ethics, jurisprudence and political philosophy.  He was also a Freeman Resident Ethics Fellow at the Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the United States Naval Academy during AY 2018-19.  His work focuses on global justice and international political and legal theory, subjecting the norms, practices and principles that govern the normative framework of international relations to rigorous philosophical scrutiny.  He has published or presented on global justice, human rights, humanitarian intervention and the moral nature of borders.

• Introduction and Overview.- Part I Developing a Framework for Assessing the Moral Limits of State Sovereignty and Sovereign Discretion.- Explicating the Tension between State Sovereignty and the New Challenges Facing the International Community.- Assessing the Limitations Inherent to the Notion of Sovereignty Itself.- Assessing the Limitations from the Best Available Justification for Sovereignty.- Introducing a Framework for Assessing the Moral Limits of Sovereignty and Sovereign Discretion.- Part II Making the Transition from Theory to Practice.- Understanding the Application of the Framework.- Global Climate Change: A Matter of Transnational Ethical Concern.- Applying the Framework: Limits to Sovereign Discretion Inherent to Sovereignty.- Applying the Framework: Limits Implied by Instrumental Value of Sovereignty.- Explicating Institutional Legitimacy.- Conclusion: Some Suggestions for Institutional Design and Reform.