ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relationship between ethical discourses and war within the context of the developing discipline of critical war studies. It begins by exploring literature that argues that traditional ethical discourses on war have not served as a framework that restricts or limits war, but rather have produced and sustained war as a phenomenon. The chapter examines the extent to which cosmopolitanism can serve as a critique of war and other forms of political violence through an ethic of the individual. Although cosmopolitan practice is now deeply entwined with liberal war, the chapter argues that cosmopolitanism can provide a critique of the institution of war by asserting the moral equivalency of human death in war. Security discourses serve to fix identities in much the same way as traditional ethical frameworks such as Just War Theory. The chapter explores the way in which cosmopolitan ethic serves to unpick key discourses of war, particularly those of intent, distinction and citizenship.
