Politics as Usual

Worldwide, human lives are rapidly improving. Education, health-care, technology, and political participation are becoming ever more universal, empowering human beings everywhere to enjoy security, economic sufficiency, equal citizenship, and a life in dignity. To be sure, there are some specially difficult areas disfavoured by climate, geography, local diseases, unenlightened cultures or political tyranny. Here progress is slow, and there may be set-backs. But the affluent states and many international organizations are working steadily to extend the blessings of modernity through trade and generous development assistance, and it won't be long until the last pockets of severe oppression and poverty are gone. Heavily promoted by Western governments and media, this comforting view of the world is widely shared, at least among the affluent. Pogge's new book presents an alternative view: Poverty and oppression persist on a massive scale; political and economic inequalities are rising dramatically both intra-nationally and globally. The affluent states and the international organizations they control knowingly contribute greatly to these evils - selfishly promoting rules and policies harmful to the poor while hypocritically pretending to set and promote ambitious development goals. Pogge's case studies include the $1/day poverty measurement exercise, the cosmetic statistics behind the first Millennium Development Goal, the War on Terror, and the proposed relaxation of the constraints on humanitarian intervention. A powerful moral analysis that shows what Western states would do if they really cared about the values they profess.

Worldwide, human lives are rapidly improving. Educationhealth-care, technology, and political participation are becomingever more universal, empowering human beings everywhere to enjoysecurity, economic sufficiency, equal citizenship, and a life indignity. To be sure, there are some specially difficult areasdisfavoured by climate, geography, local diseases, unenlightenedcultures or political tyranny. Here progress is slow, and there maybe set-backs. But the affluent states and many internationalorganizations are working steadily to extend the blessings ofmodernity through trade and generous development assistance, and itwon't be long until the last pockets of severe oppression andpoverty are gone.Heavily promoted by Western governments and media, thiscomforting view of the world is widely shared, at least among theaffluent. Pogge's new book presents an alternative view: Povertyand oppression persist on a massive scale; political and economicinequalities are rising dramatically both intra-nationally andglobally. The affluent states and the international organizationsthey control knowingly contribute greatly to these evilsselfishly promoting rules and policies harmful to the poor whilehypocritically pretending to set and promote ambitious developmentgoals. Pogge's case studies include the $1/day poverty measurementexercise, the cosmetic statistics behind the first MillenniumDevelopment Goal, the War on Terror, and the proposed relaxation ofthe constraints on humanitarian intervention. A powerful moralanalysis that shows what Western states would do if they reallycared about the values they profess.

General Introduction1 What is global justice1.0 Introduction1.1 The extent of global poverty1.2 The moral significance of global poverty1.3 From international to global justice1.4 Interactional and institutional moral analysis1.5 Transnational institutional analysis1.6 The global institutional order contributes to severe poverty1.7 Global poverty is foreseeable and avoidable1.8 Conclusion2 Recognized and violated by international law: the human rights of the global poor2.0 Introduction2.1 Human rights and correlative duties2.2 The purely domestic poverty thesis2.3 The Panglossian view of the present global order2.4 Is the present global order merely less beneficial than it might be?2.5 The present global order massively violates human rights2.6 The promise of global institutional reform3 The first UN Millennium Development Goal: a cause for celebration?3.0 Introduction3.1 Reflection one on halving world poverty3.2 Reflection two on tracking poverty by counting the poor3.3 Reflection three on where the line is drawn3.4 Reflection four on relating the IPL to the global product3.5 Concluding thoughts4 Developing morally plausible indices of poverty and gender equity: a research program4.0 Introduction4.1 The World Bank's tracking poverty by counting people below some IPL4.2 The problematic reliance on CPIs and PPPs4.3 Tracking development with the HDI and gender equity with the GDI4.4 Toward new indices of development, poverty and gender equity5 Growth and inequality: understanding recent trends and political choices5.0 Introduction5.1 Who benefits from recent growth?5.2 Intra-national inequality5.3 Growth and poverty in China5.4 Global inequality5.5 What next6 Dworkin, the abortion battle, and global poverty6.0 Introduction6.1 Dworkin's problematic reconstruction of the pro-life perspective6.2 Review of the alleged inconsistencies of the pro-life perspective6.3 The search for common ground6.4 Global poverty as a competing moral priority from the pro-life perspective6.5 Comparing the responsibilities for abortion and global poverty6.6 Objections to the comparative moral priority of hunger6.7 Conclusions7. Making war on terrorists: reflections on harming the innocent7.0 Introduction7.1 The uses of terrorism for politicians and the media7.2 Public support for anti-terror policies7.3 One failure in the moral justification for terrorism7.4 Other problems for the moral justification of terrorism7.5 Taking morality seriously7.6 Acting under color of morality7.7 The measures taken in our name7.8 How do we justify our policies?8 Moralizing humanitarian intervention: why jurying fails and how law can work8.0 Introduction8.1 The amazing appeal to the Rwandan genocide8.2 Would an intervention to stop the Rwandan genocide really have been illegal?8.3 Humanitarian heroes fettered by legal niceties?8.4 The jurying model8.5 How to think about improving the international legal order9 Creating supranational institutions democratically: reflections on the European Union's "democratic deficit"9.0 Introduction9.1 The Maastricht verdict of the German Constitutional Court9.2 Why the people allegedly cannot play a role in shaping political institutions9.3 The constitutive features of the Union9.4 Concluding remarksBibliography