Order and Justice in International Relations

S. Neil MacFarlane

To Drink Tea Is Not to Cut Wood

—Russian proverb¹

This chapter reviews Russian perspectives on the nature of, and potential trade-offs between, order and justice. The international behaviour of states reflects not only the demands imposed on them by the international system or processes of domestic political contestation, but also the distinctive perspectives their elites bring to policy-making. National perspectives on order and justice in international relations are rooted in history and the cultural interpretation of history. ² The examination of history and culture as formative elements of identity is, therefore, a necessary elements of the analysis of state behaviour. ³

Following Hedley Bull, I take order to mean a pattern 'in relations of human individuals or groups that leads to a particular result . . . an arrangement of social life such that it promotes certain goals or values'. These goals include preservation of the system and society of states, maintaining the external sovereignty of states, and the limitation of violence. ⁴ Justice, as used here, refers basically to equality of treatment and to notions of fairness and reciprocity. ⁵ The principal issues arising in recent discussions of international justice have

-176-