Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 6/5/2007
The Neo-Roman Republican Legacy and International Political Theory
December 2003
Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract
This paper claims that established accounts of international political theory overlook the neo-roman strand of republican political theory. It seeks to address this case of neglect and extend republican observations into international political theory in three steps. The first step examines the nature of international political theory. The second step examines the neo-roman strand of republicanism’s conception of liberty and the institutions whereby this type of liberty is secured. Lastly, the main elements of a republican approach to international political theory are developed in a way that highlights republicanism’s institutional approach to world politics and its commitment to the state.