ABSTRACT
This chapter examines why cosmopolitanism remains a compelling political philosophy and approach to global challenges. It sets out the context of cosmopolitanism; that is, an explanation of why cosmopolitanism is relevant to global political and social problems. The chapter offers an account of the relevance of cosmopolitanism to global challenges, rather than a defence of cosmopolitanism against leading criticisms. The aim of modern cosmopolitanism is the conceptualization and generation of the necessary background conditions for a 'common' or 'basic' structure in which individual and social activity can take place. The idea of cosmopolitan law invokes the notion of a domain of law different in kind from the law of states and the law made between one state and another for the mutual enhancement of their geo-political interests. In a world of overlapping communities of fate, individuals need to be not just citizens of their immediate political communities, but of the wider regional and global networks which impact upon their lives.
