Rights and Obligations in North-South Relations

Not a legal study but a broad philosophical inquiry into the relevance of moral factors, or their absence, in the shaping of the international order, with special attention to the North-South gap. Passing quickly over the sterile debate on a new international economic order, the authors are more concerned with the necessary minimum of rights, obligations, justice and equity that can span the differences of cultural identity and of political and economic interest. It may be a futile exercise in a world of nations moved by considerations of power and self-interest, but this kind of inquiry can be a stimulus to further thought and dialogue.