ABSTRACT
Human rights and international law have been positive forces for global peace. Cosmopolitans hold that all agents are moral subjects. Heads of states, officials in multinational corporations, and international organizations such as the European Union are subject to the same moral demands and requirements that bind ordinary individuals. This chapter provides an introduction to some important features of human rights and international law that might also be of interest for studies of pacifism, nonviolence, and peace activism. It shows that, despite appearances to the contrary, human rights and much of international law—international humanitarian law in particular—converge in support of cosmopolitanism and pacifism. The chapter argues that there is a fundamental moral basis supporting both enterprises—human rights and international law. It suggests that a proper understanding of the moral foundations for international law requires a version of pacifism known as contingent pacifism.
