Georgetown Security Studies Review Special Issue: The Poetry of International Ethics By William A. Douglas

A special edition of our student journal.  Enjoy the poetry and please do not forget to read the last article by Ashley Rhoades on page 36.  Table of contents is below.

Georgetown Security Studies Review Special Issue: The Poetry of International Ethics By William A. Douglas 

http://georgetownsecuritystudiesreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/GSSR-Poetry.pdf

About the Author

            Dr. William A. Douglas is an educator who is trained in the field of International

Relations and specializes in democracy in developing countries, international

ethics, and international labor affairs. He has lived and worked in Germany,

Korea, Peru, and China and has three decades of experience in developing, and

teaching in, labor education programs throughout Latin America.

            He taught International Relations in Korea from 1960-1962 at Sung Kyun

Kwan, Seoul National, and Korea universities and in 1963 at Yonsei University as

a Fulbright Lecturer. In 1980, he was a Fulbright Lecturer at Sung Kyun Kwan

University. From 2009-2011, he was the Fei Yi-ming Visiting Professor of Politics

at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

            Dr. Douglas has also been a Professorial Lecturer for 34 years in

Georgetown University’s Liberal Studies Program, an M.A. program for midcareer

adults. Dr. Douglas was the Interim Director of the International

Development Program from 2001-2005 at the School of Advanced International

Studies of the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and was interim Co-Director of

the Program again from 2011-2012. As a Professorial Lecturer at SAIS since

1992, he has taught courses on International Ethics and on Labor In Developing

Countries.

            He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington,

an M.A. from SAIS at Johns Hopkins, and a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton

University.

            He is the author of Developing Democracy, co-editor of Promoting

Democracy, author of a number of book chapters, and author of numerous articles

in journals including Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, Freedom Review,

International Organization, The Washington Quarterly, Human Rights Quarterly,

and World Affairs.

            He is fluent in Spanish and reads German.

Foreword

I had the honor of taking Professor Douglas’ class in 2014. Based on his vast educational and field experience around the world, combined with his many diverse interests, I think he can rightly be characterized as a true 20th and 21st Century Renaissance Man. I think I can speak for all of my classmates when I say that every week we were truly amazed and impressed that he could provide a lecture on some aspect of ethics in international affairs—from terrorism to torture to Just War to nuclear proliferation—and then conclude each lecture with a poem that was a relevant summary of the material covered. At Georgetown, and specifically in the Liberal Studies and Security Studies programs, an interdisciplinary approach to education is necessary and highly valued. However, I think few would expect there could be such an effective fusion of poetry and international affairs that Professor Douglas has provided to his students for many years.

            I was surprised to learn that his poetry had not been published. We are grateful that the editorial staff of the Georgetown Security Studies Review decided to publish his works so that more students and faculty could benefit from his wisdom.

David S. Maxwell

Associate Director

Center for Security Studies

Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Georgetown University

Realism vs. Idealism .....................................................................................1

Relatively Absolute, or Absolutely Relative? ...............................................2

American Aspirations and American Reality: Gap City ...............................3

What Might Make Right? ..............................................................................4

Just War — Or Just Murder? .........................................................................5

What Course for Using Force? ......................................................................6

A Cyber Haiku ...............................................................................................7

Keeping Faith .................................................................................................8

Preemption Contention .................................................................................10

Condone a Drone? ........................................................................................11

Tortuous Reasoning ......................................................................................12

Dirty Tricks and Moral Cleanliness .............................................................13

USA — Top Cop? ........................................................................................14

Genocide — Why Stand Aside? ...................................................................16

Take the Nearest Exit? .................................................................................17

Embargoes' Moral Cargos ............................................................................19

Eco-Ethics ....................................................................................................20

Does Charity End At Home? .......................................................................22

Copyrights and Workers’ Rights ..................................................................23

Nukes Away! ................................................................................................24

Tyrannical Trade-Offs ..................................................................................25

When Must We Become Resigned to Resigning? ........................................26

The Fate of the State .....................................................................................28

What Is National Is Not Rational .................................................................30

Security Purity? ............................................................................................31

Awful Allies .................................................................................................32

Tall Order .....................................................................................................34

Where the Pen Meets the Sword: The Role of Poetry in the Study of 

International Affairs......................................................................................36

GSSR Home Page:

http://georgetownsecuritystudiesreview.org/