ABSTRACT
Arguments favoring distributive justice mistake the international society of states for an association dedicated to common aims, or what Terry Nardin calls a purposive association. Justice among states has traditionally been understood as requiring conduct according to the rules of the society of states reflected in international law and international morality. W. H. Smith seeks to identify the grounds for applying standards of distributive justice nationally, internationally, and transnational. The role of international justice appears to be that of mediating principles of both national and global justice. Although standards of distributive justice represent a concern of many engaged in the study of world political economy, not all hold to the principles associated with equality or egalitarianism. The egalitarian argument does not involve controversial premises concerning the particular costs and benefits of dependency. The egalitarian argument does not dispute another key thesis of dependency theory, namely, that one of the main mechanisms of inequality is the dependent state itself.
