States, Nations and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries

This volume examines comparatively the views and principles of seven prominent ethical traditions on the issue of the making of state and national boundaries. The traditions represented are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, natural law, Confucianism, liberalism and international law. Each contributor is an expert within one of these traditions and demonstrates how that tradition can handle the five dominant methods of altering state and national boundaries: conquest, settlement, purchase, inheritance and secession. Readers range from upper-level undergraduates to scholars in philosophy, political science, international relations and comparative religion.