14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015Classical .docx

14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015
Classical Stoicism and the Birth of a Global
Ethics: Cosmopolitan Duties in a
World of Local Loyalties
Lisa hiLL
Do I have responsibilities to strangers and, if so, why? Is a
global ethics possible in the absence
of supra-national institutions? The responses of the classical
Stoics to these questions directly
influenced modern conceptions of global citizenship and
contemporary understandings of our
duties to others. This paper explores the Stoic rationale for a
cosmopolitan ethic that makes
significant moral demands on its practitioners. It also uniquely
addresses the objection that a
global ethics is impractical in the absence of supra-national
institutions and law.
themed artiCLe
What do we owe to strangers and why? Is a global ethics
possible in the face of national boundaries?
What should we do when bad governments order us to
mistreat strangers or the weak? These were just some
of the questions to which the ancient Stoics applied
themselves. Their answers, which emphasised the
equal worth and inherent dignity of every human being,
were to reverberate throughout the Western political
tradition and directly influence modern conceptions of

global citizenship. Yet, how the Stoics arrived at their
cosmopolitanism is often imperfectly understood, hence
the first part of the discussion. Objections that their ideas
were too utopian to be practically useful also reflect
misunderstandings about Stoicism, hence the second
part of the paper.
I begin by exploring the Stoic rationale for the cosmopolis,
the world state, after which I address the objection that
a global ethics is impractical in the absence of supra-
national institutions and law. Well aware that local
loyalties and the jealousy of sovereign states towards
their own jurisdictional authority would represent
significant obstacles to the practice of a global ethic, the
Stoics insisted that the cosmopolis could still be brought
into existence by those who unilaterally obeyed the laws
of ‘reason’ even within the confines of national borders
and in the face of hostile local institutions.
Background
Inspired by the teaching of Socrates and Diogenes of
Sinope (Diogenes the Cynic), Stoicism was founded
at Athens by Zeno of Citium in around 300 BCE and
was influential throughout the Greco-Roman world
until around 200 CE.1 Its teachings were transmitted
to later generations largely through the surviving Latin
writings of Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, C. Musonius
Rufus and Marcus Aurelius, as well as the Greek
author Diogenes Laertius via his Lives and Opinions of
Eminent Philosophers. The Stoics not only influenced
later generations; they were extremely influential in their
own time. From the outset, Stoicism was a distinctive
voice in intellectual life, from the Early Stoa in the fourth
and third centuries BCE, the Middle Stoa in the second

and first centuries BCE, to Late Stoicism in the first
and second centuries CE (and beyond) when Stoicism,
having spread to Rome and captivated many important
public figures, was at the height of its influence.
Stoic Cosmopolitanism and Global Ethics
The idea that we should condition ourselves to regard
everyone as being of equal value and concern is at
the heart of Stoic cosmopolitanism. The Stoics were
not alone in promoting this ideal: the Cynics were also
cosmopolitan. But it was the Stoics – the dominant
and most influential of the Hellenistic schools – who
systematised and popularised the concept of the
oikoumene, or world state, the human world as a
single, integrated city of natural siblings. Impartiality,
universalism and egalitarianism were at the heart of
this idea.
The Stoic challenge to particularism was extremely
subversive for a time when racism, classism, sexism
and the systematic mistreatment of non-citizens was
a matter of course. It was hardly thought controversial,
for example, that Aristotle (1943: IV. 775a. 5-15) should
declare that ‘in human beings the male is much better
in its nature than the female’ and that ‘we should look
upon the female state as being … a deformity’. Similarly,
ethnic prejudice was the norm rather than the exception
in antiquity. The complacent xenophobia and racism
of Demosthenes’s 341 BCE diatribe against Philip of
Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No 1, 2015 15
Macedon would not have raised a single eyebrow in his

Greek audience:
[H]e is not only no Greek, nor related to the
Greeks, but not even a barbarian from any place
that can be named with honour, but a pestilent
knave from Macedonia, whence it was never yet
possible to buy a decent slave (Demosthenes,
1926: 31).
Reversing these kinds of attitudes (and the behaviour
attendant on them) was the self-appointed task of the
Stoic philosophers.
The Cosmopolitan Ideal, Social Distance and Care
for Strangers
The first step towards promoting a universalistic ethic
entailed changing our whole way of thinking about
social distance. The Stoics were well aware that most
people tend to imagine their primary, secondary and
tertiary duties to others as ranked geographically:
distance regulates the intensity of obligation and people
will normally give priority to themselves, intimates,
conspecifics, and compatriots (in roughly that order),
before strangers, foreigners and members of out-
groups. This view is what is commonly referred to as ‘the
common-sense priority thesis’ or the ‘common-sense’
view of global concerns. Hierocles, the second century
Stoic philosopher, introduces the image of concentric
circles to illustrate how we generally conceive of our
obligations to others:
Each one of us is … entirely encompassed by
many circles, some smaller, others larger, the
latter enclosing the former on the basis of their
different and unequal dispositions relative to each

other. The first and closest circle is the one which
a person has drawn as though around a centre,
his own mind. This circle encloses the body and
anything taken for the sake of the body … Next,
the second one further removed from the centre
but enclosing the first circle; this contains parents,
siblings, wife, and children. The third one has in it
uncles and aunts, grandparents, nephews, nieces,
and cousins. The next circle includes the other
relatives, and this is followed by the circle of local
residents, then the circle of fellow-tribesmen, next
that of fellow citizens, and then in the same way
the circle of people from neighboring towns, and
the circle of fellow-countrymen. The outermost
and largest circle, which encompasses all the
rest, is that of the whole human race (fragment
reproduced in Long and Sedley 1987: 1349).
But the Stoics wanted to radically change this way of
thinking and feeling about others. As Hierocles suggests,
we must first become aware of our own prejudices in
order to repudiate them and thereafter substitute them
with superior cosmopolitan mental habits:
Once all these [circles] have been surveyed, it
is the task of a well tempered man, in his proper
treatment of each group, to draw the circles
together somehow toward the centre, and to keep
zealously transferring those from the enclosing
circles into the enclosed ones (Hierocles fragment
in Long and Sedley 1987: 1/349).
Humanity must embark on a morally demanding
developmental journey that begins (quite naturally) with a
variable quality of attachment towards others, proceeding

to a state of invariable quality of attachment towards
the world at large. The Stoics did not aim to invert the
priority thesis (which would mean that the intensity of our
feelings would increase the further out we went); rather,
they strove for a sameness of feeling for all, regardless
of social distance. Impartiality was their ideal. To be self-
regarding and partial to intimates was not only contrary
to natural law; it was a sign of moral immaturity.
Why Do I Owe Strangers (and the Less Fortunate)
Anything?
What led the Stoics to this ambitious mission? The
answer originates in Stoic theology, which was devised
as a philosophy of defence in a troubled world and
a rival to the religion of the Olympian pantheon. The
Stoic emotional ideal was a combination of spiritual
calm (ataraxia) and resignation (apatheia) that were
to be cultivated in order to achieve happiness/human
flourishing (eudaimonia). The point of religion was to
bring order and tranquillity; something the official Greek
religion of the Olympian gods was quite obviously
incapable of achieving. This religion, with its capricious,
sex-crazed, ill-tempered and unpredictable gods who
meddled in human affairs from the heights of Mount
Olympus hardly inspired calm, let alone compassion.
Neither did its unending demands for propitiation and
sacrifice promote resignation. So the Stoics devised
a less disconcerting religion that spoke of an orderly
universe with no divine intervention whatsoever and
brought the gods not only closer to us, but into us;
no longer distant, terrifying others but, quite literally,
kindly insiders. ‘Reason’, the ‘mind-fire spirit’ existed as
intelligent matter, residing benignly in all life and impelling
it unconsciously and teleologically towards order and
rightness. Humans are not separate from God (or Gods)

but a part of ‘Him’: ‘the universe [is] one living being,
having one substance and one soul’ (Marcus Aurelius
1916: IV.40).
Because the Gods have given each human a particle of
God-like intellect (‘reason’), we have a natural kinship
both with God and with each other (Marcus Aurelius
1916: 12.26). As related parts of the same entity, and
equally sharing in ‘reason’, we are natural equals on
earth with equal sagacious potential. According to
Cicero, everyone has the spark of reason and ‘there is no
difference in kind between man and man [it] is certainly
common to us all’ (Cicero 1988: I. 30). Seneca says that
the light of educated reason ‘shines for all’ regardless
of social location, which is, after all, merely a matter of
luck and social conditioning. As he quite sensibly points
out, ‘Socrates was no aristocrat. Cleanthes worked at
a well and served as a hired man watering a garden.
Philosophy did not find Plato already a nobleman; it made
him one’ (Seneca 2002: Ep. 44.3). Exclusive pedigrees
‘do not make the nobleman’; only ‘the soul … renders us
noble’ (Seneca 2002: Ep. 44.5). Everyone has the same
capacity for wisdom and virtue and everyone is equally
desirous of these things (Seneca 2002: Ep. 44.6).
True freedom comes from knowledge, from learning to
distinguish ‘between good and bad things’ (Seneca 2002:
Ep. 44.6). Being knowledgeable and therefore ‘good’ is
not just for ‘professional philosophers’. People do not
need to ‘wrap [themselves] up in a worn cloak … nor
grow long hair nor deviate from the ordinary practices

of the average man’ in order to enter the cosmopolis;
rather, admission is open to anyone who insists on using
their own right judgement, in simply ‘thinking out what
is man’s duty and meditating upon it’ (Musonius 1905:
Discourse 16). This is the route to both the moral and the
happy life: when we learn to live according to the natural
law of Zeus, and therefore our natural tendencies, we
are enabled to achieve inner tranquillity (Chrysippus in
Diogenes 1958: ‘Zeno’, VII. 88).2
Duties, Harm and Aid
The Stoics insisted that one of the things that allow
us to live virtuously in accordance with nature is the
correct performance of duties (Sorabji 1993: 134-157).
The virtuous agent is beneficent and just: justice is the
cardinal social virtue (‘the crowning glory of the virtues’)
and beneficence is closely ‘akin’ to it (Chrysippus cited
in Cicero 1990: I. 20). We should always strive to refrain
from harming others since the universal law forbids
it (Cicero 1990: 1. 149.153; Marcus Aurelius 1916:
9.1; Seneca 2002: Ep. 95.51-3). Indeed, ‘according to
[Nature’s] ruling, it is more wretched to commit than to
suffer injury’ (Seneca 2002: Ep. 95.52-3).
But the negative virtue of refraining from harm is not
enough: virtue must also be positive. It is natural for
human beings to aid others (Cicero 1961: III. 62). We
are duty-bound to meet the needs of our divine siblings
(Marcus Aurelius 1916: 11.4) and it is ‘Nature’s will
that we enter into a general interchange of acts of
kindness, by giving and receiving’ (Cicero 1990: I. 20).
The morally mature person knows that she must ‘live for
[her] neighbour’ as she lives for herself (Seneca 2002:
Ep. 48.3).

We have duties of justice, fairness and mutual aid to one
another and the needs of others imply a duty to meet
them: ‘Through [Nature’s] orders, let our hands be ready
for all that needs to be helped’ (Seneca 2002: Ep. 95.52-
3). Moral failure is epitomised by an ‘incapacity to extend
help’ (Epictetus 1989: Fragment 7, 4: 447). It is not only
neutral strangers who are entitled to our assistance, but
also our supposed enemies. Contrary to the ‘common
notion’ that ‘the despicable man is recognised by his
inability to harm his enemies … actually he is much more
easily recognised by his inability to help them’ (Musonius
1905: Fragment XLI). Clearly, the moral demands of the
cosmopolitan ethic are extremely high, requiring that we
treat impartially even the feared and hated. The need for
a high level of moral maturity is one of the reasons why
the Stoics placed so much emphasis on the desirability
of emotional self-control.
Universal Versus Positive, Local Law
The extirpation of passionate attachment and the
moderation of intense loyalties to conspecifics are basic
preconditions for a global ethics. Impartiality is the key
to Stoic egalitarianism: the wise person knows that the
laws governing her behaviour are the same for everyone
regardless of ethnicity, class, blood ties (Clark 1987:
65, 70), and gender (Hill 2001). Judgements about the
welfare of others are always unbiased: ‘persons’ are of
equal value and ends in themselves regardless of their
social location or proximity to us. Reason is common
and so too is law; hence ‘the whole race of mankind’
are ‘fellow-members of the world state’ (Marcus Aurelius
1916: 4.4; see also Epictetus 1989: I.9. 1-3; Cicero 1988:
I.23-31).
Cicero (1961: III.63) says that ‘the mere fact’ of our

‘common humanity’ not only inclines us, but also
‘requires’ that we feel ‘akin’ to one another. The
siblinghood of all rational creatures overrides any local
or emotional attachments because the ‘wise man’
knows that ‘every place is his country’ (Seneca 1970:
II, IX.7; see also Epictetus 1989: IV, 155-165). In order
to ‘guar[d]’ our own welfare we will subject ourselves
to God’s laws, ‘not the laws of Masurius and Cassius’.
When family members rule over others we ‘demolis[h] the
whole structure of civil society’ while putting compatriots
before ‘foreigners’ destroys ‘the universal brotherhood
of mankind’. If we refuse to recognise that foreigners
have the same ‘rights’3 as compatriots we utterly destroy
all ‘kindness, generosity, goodness and justice’ (Cicero
1990: 3. 27-8).
The rational agent will put the laws of Zeus before those
of ‘men’ whenever a conflict between them arises, even
when this imperils the wellbeing of the agent concerned,
as it so often did in the case of Stoic disciples. For
example, when in 60 CE Nero sent Rubellius into exile
to Asia Minor, Musonius went with him in a gesture of
solidarity, thereby casting suspicion on himself in the
Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No 1, 2015 17
eyes of the lethally dangerous Nero. Upon the death
of Rubellius, Musonius returned to Rome, where his
Stoic proselytising drew the further ire of Nero who
subsequently banished him to the remote island of
Gyaros. After Nero’s reign ended, Musonius returned
to Rome but was banished yet again by Vespasian on
account of his political activism.

Musonius thus practised what he preached. He taught
that it is virtuous to exercise nonviolent disobedience
in cases where an authority orders us to violate the
universal law. It is right to disobey an unlawful command
from any superior, be it father, magistrate, or master
because our allegiance – first and always – is to Zeus
and to ‘his’ commandment to do right. In fact, an act
is only disobedient when one has refused ‘to carry out
good and honourable and useful orders’ (Musonius 1905:
Discourse 16). Where the laws of God conflict with the
laws of ‘men’, natural law trumps positive law (Cicero
1988: II.11). As Epictetus (1989: 3.4-7) says: ‘if the good
is something different from the noble and the just, then
father and brother and country and all relationships
simply disappear’. All the Stoics agree on this point
and they directly influenced Kant’s views on the same
subject, namely, that the universal law ‘condemns any
violation that, should it be general, would undermine
human fellowship’ (Nussbaum 2000: 12).
Realist Objections
It is often suggested that cosmopolitanism in general –
and the idea of the world state in particular – is hard to
take seriously because it is practically impossible due
to the persistence of sovereign states and the localised
loyalties that accompany them. On this view, Stoic
cosmopolitanism necessarily involves the commitment
to a world state capable of enacting and enforcing
Stoic principles. However, the cosmopolis is not, strictly
speaking, a legal or constitutional entity (although, of
course, it can be): rather, it is, first and foremost, an
imaginary city, a state of mind, open to anyone capable
of recognising the inherent sanctity of others and who
evinces the Stoic virtues of sympatheia (social solidarity),
philanthropia or humanitas (benevolence), and clementia

(compassion). We become cosmopolites when we work
hard to look beyond surface appearances (Seneca 2002:
Ep. 44.6) and live in obedience to the laws of reason
and of nature, rather than the variable laws of a single
locality. These are the qualities that secure a person’s
membership of the cosmopolis and which also conjure
it into reality.
We are all capable of being cosmopolites. As Musonius
says, the mind is ‘free from all compulsion’ and is ‘in
its own power’; no one can ‘prevent you from using it
nor from thinking … nor from liking the good’ nor from
‘choosing’ the latter, for ‘in the very act of doing this’, you
become a cosmopolite (1905: Discourse 16). Sovereign
states and the citizens within them do not need formal,
supranational structures and legal frameworks to operate
as world citizens; they only need to begin acting as
though the world were a single city which, although
composed predominantly of strangers, is nevertheless
and inescapably one family of natural siblings. Everyone
can and should be a cosmopolite, even if this means
challenging the institutional authority of those who rule.
The fact that the cosmopolis is an imagined community
(albeit constituted by real moral agents committing real
acts of ‘reason’) does not mean that its laws are not more
secure once they have been enshrined in positive law. In
fact, the Stoics preferred to see the laws of Zeus codified
(Bauman 2000: 70, 80). The Roman Stoics, in particular,
sought to bring the cosmopolis into practical existence
through the exercise of power. This is why many threw
themselves into the Sturm und Drang of politics. The true
sage spurns the life of solitary contemplation to devote
him/herself to civic life. There is a fundamental human
desire to ‘safeguard and protect’ our fellow human beings

and because it is natural to ‘desire to benefit as many
people as [one] can’ (Cicero 1961: III.65); it follows that
‘the Wise Man’ will ‘engage in politics and government’
(Cicero 1961: III.68; Diogenes 1958: ‘Zeno’ VII. 21).
Many Stoics sought to influence politics either directly or
indirectly. The Stoic philosopher-king, Marcus Aurelius,
was the most powerful person on earth during his reign
(Noyen 1955), while the Gracchi brothers pushed for
many Stoic-inspired reforms such as admission of all
Italians to citizenship. Those without formal power sought
to influence those who did hold it: Panaetius advised
Scipio Aemilianus, Seneca advised Nero while Blossius
of Cumae advised Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (see
Hill 2005).
But in the absence of formal institutionalisation the laws
of the cosmos are still held to be real; we remain bound
by them because, as Cicero points out, ‘true law’ is
not ‘any enactment of peoples’ [statute] but something
eternal which rules the whole universe by its wisdom
in command and prohibition’. After all, ‘there was no
written law against rape at Rome in the reign of Lucius
Tarquinius’ yet ‘we cannot say on that account that
Sextus Tarquinius did not break that eternal Law by
violating Lucretia’. The eternal law ‘urging men to right
conduct and diverting them from wrongdoing ... did not
first become Law when it was written down, but when it
first came into existence’, which occurred ‘simultaneously
with the divine mind’ (1988: II. 11).
Even if they never managed to constitutionally entrench
the cosmopolis, the Stoics believe it is realised the
moment an agent internalises its moral precepts and
begins to act upon them unilaterally. On this view,
technically, the world state can be brought into existence
by the actions of a single right-thinking person. Therefore

it is unclear that a global ethics is meaningless without
a world state and without political anchoring practices,
and positive laws to guarantee them. At its inception, the
Stoic cosmopolis was conceived as a moral mindset: no
Stoic ever advocated a legally constituted world-state.
One enters the cosmopolis in and with one’s mind, a
mind that is disciplined to absolute impartiality, capable of
seeing past social conventions and intent on universally
extending benevolence and compassion.
Concluding Remarks
For the Stoics, we are siblings with a common ancestry
who share equally in a capacity for reason. Accordingly,
we are all entitled to full recognition. The global state,
the cosmopolis, is brought into being by this recognition:
it is a function of the capacity to be impartial and to
appreciate that there is an inescapable duty to aid
anyone in need, regardless of their social location or
social proximity. The Stoics knew that this was a hard
task requiring not only a high degree of emotional
control and moral maturity but also a willingness to resist
social convention and local practice. Their injunctions
to reasonable behaviour were made in full knowledge
of the fact that the desired anchoring practices would
most likely be absent; nevertheless, they expected their
disciples to adhere to them, not only in the absence of
such practices but even in the face of hostile anchoring
practices, whether in the form of laws or norms.
References

Aristotle 1943 Generation of Animals, trans. A.L. Peck,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Bauman, R. 2000 Human Rights in Ancient Rome,
Routledge, London and New York.
Brown, E. 2006 ‘The Stoic invention of cosmopolitan
politics’, Proceedings of the Conference Cosmopolitan
Politics: On the history and future of a controversial
ideal, Frankfurt am Main, December, http://www.artsci.
wustl.edu/~eabrown/pdfs/Invention.pdf (accessed
03/08/2013).
Cicero 1961 De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, trans. H.
Rackham, William Heinemann Ltd, London.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius 1988 De Republica; De Legibus,
trans. C.W. Keyes, William Heinemann Ltd, London.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius 1990 De Officiis, trans. W. Miller,
Harvard University Press, London.
Clark, S. 1987 ‘The City of the Wise’, Apeiron, XX,1:
63-80.
Demosthenes 1926 ‘Philippic III’, in Demosthenes, trans.
C. A. Vince and J. H. Vince, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, MA.
Diogenes, L. 1958 Lives of Eminent Philosophers, trans.
R.D. Hicks, William Heinemann Ltd, London.
Epictetus 1989 The Discourses as Reported by Arrian,
the Manual and Fragments, in two vols, trans. W.A.
Oldfather, Harvard University Press, London.

Hill, L. 2001 ‘The first wave of feminism: were the Stoics
feminists?’ History of Political Thought, 22, 1: 12-40.
Hill, L. 2005 ‘Classical Stoicism and a difference of
opinion?’ in T. Battin (ed.) A Passion for Politics:
Essays in Honour of Graham Maddox, Pearson
Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
Long, A. and Sedley, D. 1987 The Hellenistic Philosophers,
in two vols, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Marcus Aurelius 1916 The Meditations, trans. C.R.
Haines, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Musonius R. 1905 Musonius Rufus, Reliquiae, O. Hense
(ed.), Teubner, Chicago.
Noyen, P. 1955 ‘Marcus Aurelius: the greatest practitioner
of Stoicism’, Antiquité Classique, 24: 372-383.
Nussbaum, M. 2000 Ethics and Political Philosophy,
Transaction Publications, New Brunswick.
Seneca, Lucius Annaues 1970 ‘Ad Helvium’, in Seneca,
Moral Essays, trans. J.W. Basore, William Heinemann
Ltd, London.
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus 2002 Epistles, in three vols,
intro. R. M. Gummere, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, MA.
Sorabji, R. 1993 Animal Minds and Human Morals,
Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Author

Lisa Hill PhD is Professor of Politics at the University of
Adelaide. Before that she was an Australian Research
Council Fellow and a Fellow in Political Science at the
Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National
University. Her interests are in political theory, history of
political thought and electoral ethics. She is co-author
of: An Intellectual History of Political Corruption, and
Compulsory Voting: For and Against. She has published
her work in Political Studies, Federal Law Review,
The British Journal of Political Science and Journal of
Theoretical Politics.
End Notes
1. Although the school wasn’t officially closed until 529 CE.
2. Happiness is synonymous with wisdom and virtue in
Stoicism.
3. Habendam, or what is held or is due to one.
Every Breath
It's interesting to consider that
every breath I take
has already been breathed
been part of another breath.
Perhaps that dog over there,
smelly and hairy, licking its own arse.
lynne White,
GWynedd, WaleS

Copyright of Social Alternatives is the property of Social
Alternatives and its content may not
be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv
without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for
individual use.
[63]
A Global Ethics for a
Globalized World
Anis Ahmad
Abstract
[Islamic ethics recognizes the role of intuitions, reason, customs
and traditions, so
long as all these draw their legitimacy from the Divine
principles. First and
foremost is the principle of coherence and unity in life. The
second foundational
ethical principle is the practice of justice or equity, fairness,
moderation, beauty
and balance in life. Then come respect, protection and
promotion of life. The role
of reason and rational judgment in human decision-making is
also important.

Protection of linage and dignity of genealogy, too, has
relevance to people of the
entire world. These divinely inspired ethical principles of Islam
– transcending
finitude of human mind and experience – are not local, regional
or national on
their origin. Their universality makes them globally applicable,
absolute and
pertinent in changed circumstances and environment. They are
human friendly
and offer appreciable solutions to human problem in this age of
globalization. –
Eds.]
A phobia generally stands for an obsession or an intense fear of
an object or a situation, like dog phobia, school phobia,
blushing
phobia. Phobias are associated with almost any psychiatric
condition
but are most often related with anxiety or obsessional states
leading to
queer compulsive behavior.
1
Islamophobia, a pegurative terminology,
used more frequently in post 9/11 era, refers to a reactionary
understanding of Islam and Muslims as dogmatic,
fundamentalist, less
civilized, anti-rational, backward, destructive and terrorist.

Islam is
perceived through the prism of news and media as a faith which
prescribes all those things which conflict and negate the western
value
system and pose a threat to the western civilization and
rationality.
2
This conceptual and psychological problem of the western
statesmen,
media experts, think tanks and researchers is not recent. Islam
and
Muslims have been for centuries regarded rivals, enemies and
opponents of the west. For the past two centuries, at the least, a
political, intellectual and cultural encounter, between the west
and the
Muslim world, has taken place. In this encounter the west was
has been
on an offensive and the Muslim world took mostly a defensive
approach. With the rise capitalist economy, secular political
system and
liberal intellectual tradition in the west, the western imperialism
penetrated its political, economic and cultural colonialism deep

in the
Muslim world. One symbol of it was that the official and
commercial
language of the colonizer replaced the native languages.
Consequently
in some Muslim lands (Algerian, Tunis, Morroco) French
because
Prof. Dr. Anis Ahmad is a meritorious Professor and Vice
Chancellor, Riphah
International University, Islamabad. He is also Editor of
Quarterly Journal Maghrab
awr Islam (West & Islam), published by Institute of Policy
Studies, Islamabad.
1 Ley, “Phobia,” 7.
2 Said, Covering Islam, 7.
Policy Perspectives
64
practically their first language and Arabic become secondary; In
the
Pakistan sub-continent, Sudan, Malaysia, South Africa and
Nigeria
whenever the British colonialism ruled, English because official

language. Similarly Italian and Dutch languages were
popularized
among in Libya and Indonesia. Adoption of a foreign language
had its
socio-cultural implication on the Muslim people. At the same
time their
relationship of the colonizer and the colonized also persuaded
the
colonizer to understand the mind of the colonized and take
necessary
measures to keep the colonizer subjugated. In order to
understand and
control the colonized, imperialists tried to learn about the native
languages and cultures. This persuaded the British, French,
Italian and
Dutch, to create centers for study of the Orient with focuses on
study of
language and culture of the natives. They also trained a
generation of
native scholars who subscribed to the western mind-set,
research
methodology and its basic assumptions.

All known civilizations have their distinct concepts of good and
bad. Even those considered as “uncivilized” and heathens
believe in
certain norms and values. They generally respect their elders
and love
children, they value honesty and disapprove cheating.
Traditionally,
local customs and traditions, after continuous practice, evolve
into
norms and laws. These norms and laws define for them what is
good or
bad behavior. When ethical behavior is considered an obligation
and
duty, it is called deontological ethics. Furthermore while
determining
right or wrong, one may take up an objective or subjective
approach.
Those who think good and right can be known like natural
objects, or
that right and wrong can be empirically verified are called
ethical
naturalists. While those who think right or wrong are a matter
of
emotions, or attitude of a group, are termed emotivists. Those

who
hold to non-cognitivism and think that attitudes of a group
determine
ethicality or non-ethicality of a judgment are called ethical
relativists.
The word ethics [ethickos in Greek, from ethos meaning custom
or usage] as a technical term also refers to morals and character.
Moralis was used by Cicero, who considered it the equivalent of
the
ethikos of Aristotle with both referring to practical activity
3
. Ethical
behavior in general means good conduct, acting with a sense of
right
and wrong, good and bad, and virtue and evil. Philosophers
classify
ethics in various categories, for example Normative ethics deals
with
“building systems designed to provide guidance in making
decisions
concerning good and evil, right and wrong…”
4
.

With these preliminary observations on the meaning of the
term, we may look briefly on the axiological and teleological
aspects of
ethical behavior. The axiological or value aspect subsumes that
ethical
behavior is to be considered good. The latter simply means that
the
3 Reese, Dictionary of Philosophy, 156.
4 Ibid, 156.
A Global Ethics for a Globalized World
65
ultimate objective and purpose of an action should be
achievement of
good. In either case western and eastern ethical thought
consider social
consensus, at a given time, as the source of legitimacy of an
ethical
act. Though certain ethical values apparently carry universality
e.g.

truth, the question, what is truth as such, whether truth is
practiced for
the sake of truth, or to avoid a personal harm, or for the
collective
benefit of a society, can be approached from different
perspectives.
In Western thought Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752 C.E.) held
that a person‟s conscience, when neither polluted nor subverted
or
deranged intuitively, makes ethical judgments. Immanuel Kant
(1724-
1804 C.E.) is known for his taking law as the basis of ethics;
therefore
here ethical behavior, for him, is a matter of a categorical
imperative.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832 C.E.) considered the greatest good
of the
greatest number of the people as the goal of ethics. Herbert
Spencer
(1820-1903 C.E.) evolved the concept of evolutionary
utilitarianism.
Edward A. Westermarck (1862-1939 C.E.) pleaded the view of
ethical

relativism thus considering ethical systems as a reflection of
social
conditions. While William of Ockham (1290-1349 C.E.)
regarded ethics
as having religious origin in the will of God where the Divine
command
declares what is right or wrong.
Except for a handful of religious thinkers and philosophers,
those in the East or the West
consider intuition, collective
good or social conditions
responsible for considering an
act good and ethical or bad
and immoral. Nevertheless
certain concepts such as
justice, beneficence and non-
malfeasance are commonly
agreed as basic ethical
principles in the West. Islamic

ethics on the contrary draws
its legitimacy from Divine
revelation or Wah}ī. The Qur‟ān and the Prophetic Sunnah
provide
universal ethical principles with specific instructions on what is
good,
therefore permissible and allowed (h}alāl), what is desirable
(mubāh})
and what is bad and impermissible (h}arām) as well as what is
disliked
(makrūh).
These two comprehensive terms, h}alal and h}aram cover all
possible areas of human activity wherein one exercises ethical
judgment, and thus acts morally or immorally. Ethical
boundaries
(h}udūd) are drawn to indicate areas to be avoided. A vast area
of
mubāh} also exists where under general universal Divine
principles,
Maqās}id al-Sharī‘ah or objectives of the Divine law, individual
and
collective rational, logical and syllogistic reasoning (ijtihād)
leads to
judgments and positions on emerging bio-medical and ethical

issues.
All known civilizations have their
distinct concepts of good and bad.
Even those considered as
“uncivilized” also believe in
certain norms and values.
Policy Perspectives
66
The basic difference between the Eastern and Western ethical
philosophy, and the Islamic ethical paradigm can be illustrated
with the
help of a simple diagram.
Evolution of Ethical Values in the East
and the West
Ethical Norms
and values
Social Habits

and Behavior
Local Customs
and Traditions
Sociologist, anthropologists and historians of culture trace
origin of
ethical values of a people in their physical environment. With
the
change in space and time, values and norms are also expected to
change. The norms and values of a pre-industrial society and a
post-
modernist society are not expected to be similar. Social,
economic and
political evolution is supposed to cause basic changes in the
value
system of a people who go through this process. Values and
norms,
therefore, are considered relative to socio-economic change.
Truth,
beauty and justice are, therefore not absolute but subject to
environmental change and evolution. Man is supposed to adjust
his

behavior and conduct accordingly.
Islamic ethics recognizes the role of intuitions, reason, customs
and traditions, so long as all these draw their legitimacy from
the
67
Divine principles of Sharī‘ah. No customs or traditions contrary
to the
principles of Sharī‘ah can serve as the basis of social,
economic,
political, legal and cultural policies and practices. Social
development
and progress is subservient to Sharī‘ah. Divine legislation
(Sharī‘ah, in
the strict sense of the word) is neither a product of social
evolution nor
particular to a place, people, society or historical context. Its
principles
are operational in all seasons and in a variety of human
conditions.

Islamic ethics is founded on divine principles of sharī‘ah (the
maqās}id) which can be summarized as follows: First and
foremost is
the principle of coherence and unity in life (tawh}īd). It simply
means
that human behavior has to be coherent, unified and not
contradictory
and incoherent. If it is ethical to respect human life, the same
principle
should be observed when a person deals with his friends or
adversaries.
Justice, truth and thankfulness should not be selective. If a
person
declares that Allah is the Ultimate Authority in the universe,
then His
directions and orders should be followed not only in the month
of
Ramadan and in the masjid or within the boundaries of the
Ka‘bah, but
even when a person is in the farthest corner of the world one
should
observe Allah‟s directions in one‟s personal life, in economic
activities,
social transactions, as well as in political decision making.

Unity in life
or tawh}īd in practice, therefore, is a value and norm not
particular to a
place, time or people.
If a comparison is made with Confucianism for example, one
finds that in Confucianism (founded by Confucius: 551-479
B.C.E.),
there is great emphasis on the noble person (chuntzu). The
noble
person is expected to observe
certain values like humanity,
benevolence and compassion
(jen); righteousness (yi), filial
piety (xiao) and acting
according to “rules of
propriety” in the most
appropriate manner, or
observing ritual and ceremony
(li).

Jin or human
heartedness and yi or
righteousness together build a person of high moral quality
5
.
Righteousness and human heartedness in Confucianism are not
for the
sake of any utilitarian end. Righteousness has to be for the sake
of
righteousness. This reminds us of the Kantian categorical
imperative, or
following ethics as a legal obligation. Confucianism does not
accept
ethical relativism. In other words, ethical behavior and a
righteous
person stand for “principled morality”.
5 Yu-Lan, The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, 10-12.
Islamic ethics recognizes the role
of intuition, reason, customs and
traditions, so long as all these
draw their legitimacy from the

Divine principles.
Policy Perspectives
68
The Confucian term li is often translated as “ritual” or
“sacrifice”. The fact of the matter is that it stands for more than
doing a
ritual in the prescribed manner. Confucius, in response to one of
his
students, is reported to have said: “in funerals and ceremonies
of
mourning, it is better that the mourners feel true grief, than that
they
be meticulously correct in every ceremonial detail.”
6
Ethics in practice
appears a major concern of Confucianism. It also indicates that
ethical
consciousness and a desire for ethical and moral conduct and
behavior
is a universal phenomenon.

Thus according to the Islamic worldview, ethical and moral
behavior (taqwa, ‘amal-s}āleh), observing what is essentially
good
(ma‘rūf) and virtue (birr) is an obligation. Reasoned ethical
judgment is
the basis of man‟s relation with his Creator as well as the basis
of
serving and interacting with His Creation .Every human action
is to be
based on ma‘rūf and taqwa, which are the measurable
manifestations
of tawhid or unity in life. Man is neither an economic entity
nor a social
animal, but an ethical being. Allah informed the angels before
the
creation of the first human couple that He was going to create
His
khalīfah, vicegerent or deputy, on earth. Allah did not say a
“social
animal” or an “economic man” or a “shadow of god/monarch”
or one
“obsessed with libido” was going to be created. khalīfah
conceptually
means a person who acts ethically and responsibly. Therefore

Man in
the light of the Qur‟ān is essentially an ethical being.
This realization of the unity in life, is the first condition for
being
a believer in Islam and this principle has global application.
Hence not
only for a Muslim but also equally for a Buddhist, Confucian, a
Christian, or a Hindu it is important to liberate oneself from
contradictions in conduct and
behavior. Specifically for a
Muslim observance of one and
the same ethical standards is
a pre-requisite for Īmān or
faith. An authentic Prophetic
h}adīth states:
“It is reported on the
authority of Anas b. Malik that
the Prophet (May peace and
blessings be upon him)

observed: one amongst you
believes (truly) till one likes
for his brother or for his neighbor that which he loves for
himself.”
7
The Qur‟ān in several places underscores unity in action or
unity
in behavior and profession as the key to ethical and moral
conduct.
6 Creel, Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung, 33.
7 Saheeh Muslim. Book 1. Hadīth no. 72.
The principle of coherence and
unity in life is the first and
foremost. It simply means that
human behavior has to be
coherent, unified and not
contradictory and incoherent.

69
“O Believers! Why do you say something which you
do not do? It is very hateful in the sight of Allah that
you say something which you do not do.”
8
Unity in life as the first core teaching of Islam also happens to
be the basis of what have been called objectives of the Sharī‘ah
(maqās}id al-Sharī‘ah). Since unity in life means elimination of
dual
standards of ethics and morality and development of a holistic
personality, its applicability and relevance is not particular to
be
Muslims. Needless to say the objective of sharī‘ah are
essentially
objectives of humanity as such truly global. The Qur‟an invites
the
whole of humanity to critically
examine human conduct and
behavior, and through the

application of tawh}īd, create
harmony, balance, coherence
and unity in human conduct and
social policy. This principle was
not a tribal, Arabian or Makkan
practice. It was revealed to the
Prophet that the Rabb or
Naurisher of the whole of
human community is Allah
alone, therefore He alone to be
taken as Transcendent creator
and sustainer of the whole universe and mankind. The Qur‟anic
terminology Allah is not an evolved form of ilah but proper and
personal
name of Transcendent creator of mankind. Islamic law similarly
was not
a matter of Arabian customs traditions assigned normativeness
by
Islam. Islam cause to Islamize the Arabs and non-Arabs. It
never

wanted to Arabize the non-Arabic speaking world community.
The second foundational ethical principle, and an important
objective of the Sharī‘ah is the practice of „adl (justice) or
equity,
fairness, moderation, beauty and balance in life. ‘Adl (justice)
is one of
the major attributes of Allah, for He is Most Just, Fair and
Compassionate to His creation. At the same time, it is the
principle
operating in the cosmos, in the world of vegetation, in the
animal
world, sea world as well as in humanity at large. The Qur‟ān
refers to
the constitution of man regarding this principle:
“O man! What had lured you away from your
Gracious Rabb, Who created you, fashioned you,
proportioned you.”
9
8 As-Saff:61:2-3.

9 Al-Infitaar: 82:6-7.
Second foundational ethical
principle, is the practice of
justice or equity, fairness,
moderation, beauty and balance
in life.
Policy Perspectives
70
In Islam ethical conduct and virtuous behavior (taqwa) is
directly linked with ‘adl:
“O Believers! Be steadfast for the sake of Allah, and
bear true witness, and let not the enmity of a people
incite you to do injustice; do justice; that is nearer to
piety….”
10
‘Adl is a comprehensive term. It also includes the meaning
of

excelling and transcending in ethical and moral conduct:
“Allah commands doing justice, doing good to others,
and giving to near relatives, and He forbids
indecency, wickedness, and rebellion: He admonishes
you so that you may take heed.
”11
Though generally taken to mean legal right of a person, „adl
has
much wider implications. At a personal level it means doing
justice to
one‟s own self by being moderate and balanced in behavior.
Therefore
if a person over sleeps or does not sleep at all, starves in order
to
increase spirituality or to lose weight, or on the contrary,
overeats and
keeps on gaining weight, in both cases, he commits z}ulm or
injustice
to his own self. „Adl is to be realized at the level of family. The
h}adīth
of the Prophet specifies that one‟s body has a right on person

similarly
his wife has a right on a person.
One who is kind, loving, caring and
compassionate toward family is
regarded by the Prophet a true
Muslim. „Adl has to be the basis of
society. A human society may
survive despite less food but no
society can survive without „adl or
fairness and justice. „Adl in
economic matters means an
economic order with oppressions,
monopoly and unfair distribution of
wealth. It also demands political
freedom and right to association, difference of opinions,
criticism and
right to elect most suitable person for public position. If a
political
system does not provide freedom of speech, respect for
difference of

opinion and practice of human rights it cannot be called a just
political
order. The capitalist world order, because of its oppressive
nature
cannot be called an „adil order. It remains a z}alim order so
long it does
not provide the due share of the laborer.
10 Al-Ma’idah: 5:8.
11 An-Nah}l: 16:90.
A human society may
survive despite less food
but no society can survive
without fairness and
justice.
71
‘Adl in a medical context means professional excellence in
one‟s

area of competence and specialization, for the simple reason
that ‘adl
means doing a thing at its best. It implies devoting full attention
to the
patient in order to fully understand the problem and coming up
with the
best possible remedy. It also means prescribing a quality
medicine with
least financial burden on the patient, and avoiding unnecessary
financial burden on a patient by prescribing irrelevant
laboratory tests
or high cost medicine when a less costly medicine can do the
same.
Thus if in one single area proper attention is not paid, it is
deviation
from the path of ‘adl.
The third vital global ethical principle and one of the objective
of
the Sharī‘ah is respect, protection and promotion of life. It too
has
wider and vital implications for the whole of mankind. This
principle is

drawn directly from the Qur‟ānic injunction that saving one
human life
is like saving the whole of mankind, and destroying one single
life,
unjustly, is like killing the whole of mankind.
12
This Qur‟ānic injunction
makes it obligatory on every believing Muslim to avoid harming
life or
killing, except when it is in return for committing manslaughter
or
causing lawlessness in society.
13
Since the word used in the Qur‟ān is nafs which means, self,
soul, individual human being, it is not particular to the Muslims
or
people of a particular faith, creed or ethnicity. No individual or
group of
human beings can be killed, or their life harmed without an
ethical,
objective and legal justification. It also means that life when
even in its

developmental stage is equally honorable and valuable. A fetus
hence
has the same sanctity as a full-grown human being. Therefore
any
things that can harm the fetus is also to be avoided in order to
ensure
quality of life is not marginalized. For example if a female
during
pregnancy uses alcoholic beverages, or drugs or even smokes,
medically all these are going to harm the fetus, and thus effect
the
quality of life in future of a child yet to harm.
Not only this, but the principle has further serious implications
even for environmental policies. It is also directly relevant to
the
manufacturing and production of pharmaceuticals. If the quality
of
pharmaceuticals is not controlled, their use is bound to harm
life.
This principle is also related to public policy on population. It
does not allow state to interfere in the bedroom of a person and
impose

an embargo on childbirth, or allow abortion. These are only a
few
serious ethical issue directly related to the principle of value of
life.
12 “That whoever kills a person, except as a punishment for
murder or mischief in the
land, it will be written in his book of deeds as if he had killed
all the human beings,
and whoever will save a life shall be regarded as if he gave life
to all the human
beings…” Al-Ma’idah:5:32.
13 Ibid.
Policy Perspectives
72
Obviously these are universal applications of this principle and
not
confined to the followers of Islam.
The fourth major ethical principle relates to the role of reason
and rational judgment in human decision-making. The fact that
human

beings should have reasoned judgments, and rise above
emotional
behavior, blind desires and drives is a major concern of the
Sharī‘ah.
Consequently Islam does not permit suspension of freedom of
judgment. An obvious example is, if a person gets addicted to
drugs or
hooked to intoxicants, their use influences his personal and
social
relations, freedom of will, as
well as personal integrity. In
Islam independence of reason
and rational judgment is a pre-
condition for all legal
transactions. The Qur‟ān
considers the use of intoxicants
immoral (fah}āsh). It is not only
sinful but also legally prohibited.
Modern medical research also
confirms the harmful effects of
drugs and intoxicants on the

mental health of people
irrespective of their race, color
or religion. However Islam‟s concern for reasoned and rational
behavior
in personal and social life is not peculiar to Muslims. It‟s
universal
values have global relevance to the conduct and behavior of all
human
beings at a global level.
The fifth principle, protection of linage and dignity of
genealogy,
too, has relevance to people of the entire world, irrespective of
their
religion, race, color or language. It makes protection of genetic
identity
and protection of lineage an ethical and legal obligation. The
Islamic
social and legal system considers free mixing of sexes and pre-
marital
conjugal relations immoral as well as unlawful. This has serious
implications for health sciences, social policy and legal system.
This

global ethical principle deters a person from commercialization
of the
human gene and also from the mixing of genes (such as in the
case of
a surrogacy). This principle helps in preserving high standard of
morality in human society. It also discourages anonymity of the
gene
and helps in preserving tradition of genetic tree.
This limit review of the objectives of Islamic shari‘ah indicates
that every principle has global relevance to ethical and moral
conduct of
persons in a civilized society. The purpose of this brief resume
of
universal and foundational Islamic ethical and moral principles,
has
been first to dispel the impression that Islamic ethics is
particular to the
Muslims; second to understand the objectives and origin of
these
values in the Divine guidance and third, to find out how viable
they are
in the contemporary world.

Islamic ethical principles
clearly differentiate between a
reasoned and rational judgment
and a judgment based on the
so-called blind drives.
73
The principles and the objectives of the Sharī‘ah, as mentioned
above, are practically the objectives of humanity. Many of the
biological, emotional or intellectual and social needs of man
have been
interpreted in western social sciences as blind drives, instincts
and
animal desires; Islamic ethical principles clearly differentiate
between a
reasoned and rational judgment and a judgment based on the so-
called
blind drives. For instance, some human actions may have

apparent
similarity but they may be poles apart. A person may take a loan
from
a bank on a mutually agreed interest rate to establish an
industry.
Another person may also borrow money from a bank on the
Islamic
ethical principles of profit sharing, and with no interest at all.
Both
appear industrial loans yet essentially one supports the
capitalistic
exploitative system, while the other encourages commercial and
industrial growth without indulging in interest or usury, totally
prohibited by Islam.
Legitimacy of Ethical Values
Before concluding, it may also be appropriate to add a few
words on
the legitimacy of Islamic ethical principles. It may be asked,
“do these
principles draw their legitimacy from their customary practice,
or draw

their power and authority from somewhere else?
Ethical behavior in all walks of life is a major concern of Islam.
However it does not leave ethical judgment to the personal like
or
dislike, or to the greatest good of the largest number of people,
though
one of the maxims of the Sharī‘ah directly refers to public good
or
maslaha ‘amah. The origin and legitimacy of values in the
Islamic world
view resides in Divine revelation (wah}ī). Revelation or
kalaam/speech
of Allah should not be confused with inspiration or intuition,
which is a
subjective phenomenon. Revelation, wah}ī or kalaam of Allah is
knowledge which comes from beyond and therefore, it is not
subjective
but objective. Being the spoken word of Allah, makes it
transcend the
finitude of space and time. Though revealed in the Arabic
language, it
addresses the whole of humanity (an-Naas). It uses Arabic
language
only incidentally, for clarity in communication. The purpose of

revelation in Arabic was to Islamize the Arabs and not to
arabize those
who enter in to the fold of Islam.
Islamic values by their very nature are universal and globally
applicable. None of the ethical norms have their roots in local
or
Arabian customs and traditions. These are not particularistic,
temporal
values that normally change with the passage of time. These are
universal values having their roots in the Divine, universalistic
revelation. The principle of ‘adl discussed above, is not
particular to a
race, color, groups or a specific region, or period of history.
Respect
and promotion of life is also a universal value. Similarly
honesty,
fairness, truth are neither Eastern nor Western, these are
universally
recognized applied values.
Policy Perspectives

74
The purpose of these universal Islamic values is to help human
beings develop a responsible vision of life. It is a gross
underestimation
to consider life a sport, a moment of pleasure. Life has
meaning, an
ethics by which it has to be lived, fashioned and organized.
The Islamic world view, as pointed out earlier looks on human
life holistically. It advocates integration and cohesion in life,
and avoids
compartmentalization and fragmentation. Tawh}īd or unity in
life is
created when one single standard is observed in private and
public life
and all human actions are motivated only by one single concern
i.e how
to gain Allah‟s pleasure by observing an ethical and responsible
life.
Islamic ethics can be summarized in only two points. First and
foremost, is observance of the rights of the Creator; living an

ethical
life with full awareness of accountability on the day of
Judgment as well
as in this world. Secondly, to fulfill obligations towards other
human
beings not for any reward, recognition or compensation, but
simply
because it pleases Allah. Serving humanity for the sake of
humanity
may be a good cause but what makes serving humanity an
‘ibadah or
worship is serving Allah‟s servants for His sake, and not for
any worldly
recognition by winning an excellent reward.
Islamic ethics in practice helps in binding the balanced,
responsible, receptive and proactive personality of a
professional. The
primary Islamic ethical values briefly discussed above allow
anyone
who follows these in their letter and spirit to reflect as a global
citizen,
who transcends above discriminations of color, race, language
or

religion. The Qur‟ān invites the entire humanity to adopt the
path of
ethical living and practice, in order to make society peaceful,
orderly
and responsive to needs of
the community. The Muslim
community is defined in the
Qur‟ān as the community of
ethically motivated persons
(khayra-ummah) or the
community of the middle
path (ummatan-wast}ān)
that does not go out of
balance and proportion and
implements good or ma‘ruf.
Ethically responsible
behavior means a behavior that follows universal ethical norms
and
laws and resists all immediate temptations. The strength of
character

simply means strict observance of principles a person claims to
subscribe to. Thus Islamic professional ethics guides a
professional in
all situations where an ethical judgment is to be made, in
medical
treatment as well as in business transactions, and administrative
issues.
It is a gross underestimation to
consider life a sport, a moment of
pleasure. Life has meaning, an
ethics by which it has to be lived,
fashioned and organized.
75
Islamic ethics in practice encompasses not only formally known
social work but practically every action a human takes in
society.

Islamic professional or work ethics is not confined to customer
satisfaction. A believer has to act ethically in personal as well
as social,
financial, political and cultural matters. Change in space and
time does
not lead to any change in ethical and moral standards and
behavior.
Quality assurance as an ethical obligation is one of the major
concerns
of the Qur‟ān. The general
principles of quality
assurance are mentioned at
several places in a variety
of context.
“Weigh with even
scales, and do not
cheat your fellow
men of what is
rightfully theirs...”
14

It is further
elaborated when the Qur‟ān directs, that while delivering goods
or
products one should not observe dual standards:
“Woe to those who defraud, who when, they take by
measure from men, take the full measure, but when
they give by measure or by weight to others, they
give less than due.”
15
A medical practitioner for example, when he gets his
compensation in terms of consultation fee, it is his or her
ethical
obligation to advice a patient with full responsibility, care and
sense of
accountability to Allah. The same applies to a teacher, who
must deliver
knowledge with full honesty, responsibility and fairness without
hiding
the truth, or manipulation of facts. It equally applies to students

and
researchers who do their utmost in seeking knowledge and truth,
and
produce knowledge while avoiding plagiarism and other unfair
means in
research.
14 Ash-Shū’ara:26:182-183.
15 Al-Mut}affifīn:83:1-3.
Islamic ethics in practice
encompasses not only formally
known social work but practically
every action a human takes in
society.
Policy Perspectives
76
The divinely inspired ethical principles transcend finitude of
humans mind and
experience. These are not

local, regional or national
on their origin, they are
not for a people with a
specific denomination
either. Their universality
makes them globally
applicable, absolute and
applicable in changed
circumstances and
environment. They are
human friendly but not a
result of human intellectual
intervention and offer
appreciable solutions to
human problem in this age
of globalization.
Wamā tawfīqī illa, bi Allah, wa Allahu A’lamu bi als}awāb.

The divinely inspired ethical
principles of Islam – transcending
finitude of human mind and
experience – are not local, regional
or national in their origin. Their
universality makes them globally
applicable, absolute and pertinent in
changed circumstances.
77
References:
Creel, H.G. Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung.
Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1953.
Ley, P. “Phobia.” in Encyclopedia of Psychology. edited by H.J.
Eysenck,

et al, Vol III. New York, The Seabury Press, 1972.
Reese, William. Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion Eastern
and
Western Thought. New Jersey: Huamanties Press, 1980.
Said, Edward W. Covering Islam, How Media and the Experts
Determine
How We See the Rest of the World. New York: Panthoos Book,
1981.
Yu-Lan, Fung. The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy. Boston:
Beacon Press,
1947.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without
permission.
1
1

Introduction to
Global Issues
VINAY BHARGAVA
More than at any other time in history, the future of humankind
isbeing shaped by issues that are beyond any one nation’s
ability
to solve. Climate change, avian flu, financial instability,
terrorism, waves of
migrants and refugees, water scarcities, disappearing fisheries,
stark and
seemingly intractable poverty—all of these are examples of
global issues whose
solution requires cooperation among nations. Each issue seems
at first to be
little connected to the next; the problems appear to come in all
shapes and
from all directions. But if one reflects a moment on these
examples, some
common features soon become apparent:
■ Each issue affects a large number of people on different sides
of
national boundaries.
■ Each issue is one of significant concern, directly or
indirectly, to all or
most of the countries of the world, often as evidenced by a
major
United Nations (UN) declaration or the holding of a global
conference
on the issue.
■ Each issue has implications that require a global regulatory

approach;
no one government has the power or the authority to impose a
solu-
tion, and market forces alone will not solve the problem.
These commonalities amount almost to a definition of global
issue, and
awareness of them will help throughout this book in identifying
other such
issues besides those named above. First, however, a few other
definitions and
distinctions will further clarify just what we mean by global
issues.
I would like to thank Cinnamon Dornsife, Michael Treadway,
Jean-François Rischard, and Asli
Gurkan for their advice and comments on earlier versions of
this chapter.
Bhargava, V. K. (Ed.). (2006). Global issues for global citizens
: An introduction to key development challenges. Retrieved
from
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Created from ashford-ebooks on 2019-09-11 10:08:19.
C
o
p
yr
ig
h
t
©
2

0
0
6
.
W
o
rl
d
B
a
n
k
P
u
b
lic
a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e

se
rv
e
d
.
Some Definitions
Global issues, globalization, and global public goods are related
but differing
concepts. Globalization generally refers to the increasing
integration of
economies around the world, particularly through trade,
production chains
(where parts for a final good, such as an automobile, are
produced in one
country and assembled in another), and financial flows. The
term increasingly
also refers to the movement of people and of information
(including not only
financial and other raw data but ideas, fashions, and culture as
well) across
international borders. Globalization can be understood as a
driving force
affecting many global issues, from migration to fair trade to
debt relief.
The concept of global public goods is a more recent one, and
indeed its
dimensions and implications are still being worked out by
researchers and
policy analysts. The International Task Force on Global Public
Goods has
defined international public goods (a term that includes both

global and
regional public goods) as goods and services that “address
issues that: (i) are
deemed to be important to the international community, to both
developed
and developing countries; (ii) typically cannot, or will not, be
adequately
addressed by individual countries or entities acting alone; and,
in such cases
(iii) are best addressed collectively on a multilateral basis.”1 By
this definition,
most but not all of the global issues addressed in this book
involve the creation
of—or the failure to create—global public goods. We will return
to the topic
of global public goods later in the chapter.
What Global Issues Do We Face Today?
Global issues are present in all areas of our lives as citizens of
the world. They
affect our economies, our environment, our capabilities as
humans, and our
processes for making decisions regarding cooperation at the
global level
(which this book will call global governance). These issues
often turn out to be
interconnected, although they may not seem so at first. For
example, energy
consumption drives climate change, which in turn threatens (a)
marine fish-
eries through changes in ocean temperature and chemistry and
(b) other food
resources through changes in rainfall patterns. For purposes of
this book, we
group global issues into the five thematic areas shown in table
1.1. Of course,

there are also other possible categorizations and other
approaches to global
issues.2
Not all of the issues listed in table 1.1 are discussed in this
book. Rather,
we have tried to cover the most important ones in each of the
categories in
table 1.1 where the World Bank has expertise. Global issues in
the area of
Global Issues for Global Citizens2
from
C
o
p
yr
ig
h
t
©
2
0
0
6
.
W

o
rl
d
B
a
n
k
P
u
b
lic
a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.

peace and security are also very important but are beyond the
expertise and
mandate of the World Bank. The book therefore has four parts,
covering the
global economy, global human development, the global
environment and
natural resources, and global governance. Each part has several
chapters, each
of which covers one of the global issues listed in table 1.1.
Each chapter begins by defining the issue and identifying what
makes it
global in scope. The chapter then explores the key underlying
forces that
shape the issue, the consequences of addressing or not
addressing it, and pos-
sible solutions, controversies, and international actions already
under way or
proposed. Each chapter ends with a brief review of the World
Bank’s own
perspectives on the issue and its role in seeking solutions. What
follows is a
brief introduction to the four thematic areas and the global
issues discussed
within each.
The Global Economy
National and regional economies around the world are becoming
increasingly
integrated with each other through trade in goods and services,
transfer of
technology, and production chains. The interconnectedness of
financial mar-

kets is also expanding rapidly. Such integration offers greater
opportunity for
Introduction to Global Issues 3
T A B L E 1 . 1 A List of Global Issues by Thematic Area
Thematic area Global issues
Global economy International trade,* financial stability,*
poverty and inequality,*
foreign aid,* debt relief,* international migration,* food
security,*
intellectual property rights
Global Human Universal education,* communicable diseases,*
humanitarian
development emergencies, hunger and malnutrition,* refugees
Global environment Climate change,* deforestation,* access to
safe water,*
and natural loss of biodiversity, land degradation, sustainable
energy,*
resources depletion of fisheries*
Peace and security Arms proliferation, armed conflict,
terrorism, removal of land
mines, drug trafficking and other crime, disarmament, genocide
Global governance International law, multilateral treaties,
conflict prevention,* reform
of the United Nations system,* reform of international financial
institutions,* transnational corruption,* global compacts,*
human
rights

Note: Asterisks indicate that a chapter on this global issue is
included in this book.
from
C
o
p
yr
ig
h
t
©
2
0
0
6
.
W
o
rl
d
B
a
n
k
P

u
b
lic
a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
people to tap into more and larger markets around the world,
and so increase
both their incomes and their ability to enjoy all that the world
economy has
to offer.
At the same time, however, economic integration poses serious

inherent
risks: in a globalized world economy, an adverse event such as
a financial
crisis in one part of the world can easily spread to other parts,
just as a con-
tagious disease spreads from person to person. An example of
such conta-
gion was the East Asian financial crisis of 1997–98, in which a
financial and
currency crisis in Thailand quickly triggered similar upheavals
in the Repub-
lic of Korea, Indonesia, and elsewhere, prompting international
intervention
to avert a global crisis. (See chapter 3 for more about the East
Asian and other
financial crises.) Another example involves the globalization of
trade and
labor markets: concerns about the fairness of recent
international trade
agreements and about the effects of freer trade on jobs and
working condi-
tions led to violent protests at the World Trade Organization
meeting in Seat-
tle in 1999; these protests helped change the dynamic of the
latest round of
international trade negotiations. (See chapter 7 for a discussion
of these
ongoing negotiations.) There are also concerns that the world
economy is
growing in an unbalanced way, with rising inequalities in
incomes and
opportunities.
Part One of the book is devoted to those global issues that fall
under the
heading of the global economy. Of the many issues that could

be addressed,
the book considers the following: poverty and inequality,
financial stability,
aid, debt, migration, trade, and food security.
Poverty and Inequality
Substantial progress has been made in recent decades in
reducing poverty—
the proportion of people living in extreme poverty worldwide
has halved
since 1980. Yet poverty remains deep and widespread: more
than a billion
people still subsist on less than one dollar a day, and income
per capita in
the world’s high-income countries, on average, is 65 times that
in the low-
income countries.
Income is not the only measure of poverty, nor is it the only one
for which
the recent numbers are grim. Over three-quarters of a billion of
the world’s
people, many of them children, are malnourished. Whereas the
rich countries
have an average of 3.7 physicians per 1,000 population, the
low-income coun-
tries have just 0.4 per 1,000. Maternal mortality in childbirth in
many
low-income African countries is more than 100 times higher
than in the high-
income countries of Europe. Vast numbers of people also
struggle to survive
in squalid, depressing living conditions, where they lack both
opportunity to

b
lic
a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
better their lives and the social recognition and voice to demand
such oppor-
tunity. These, too, are real and important aspects of poverty.
Accompanying widespread poverty is widespread inequality,
again as mea-
sured both by income and by other yardsticks. Measured in
absolute terms,

the income gap between rich and poor countries has widened
over the past
several decades. The economic divide within countries is
likewise large.
In an increasingly interdependent world, the high prevalence
and stubborn
persistence of poverty and inequality in developing countries—
the subject of
chapter 2 of this volume—have implications for all countries.
Deep depriva-
tion weakens the capacity of states to combat terrorism,
organized crime,
armed conflict, and the spread of disease, and these in turn can
have severe
economic, environmental, and security consequences for
neighboring states
and the global community. Poverty and inequality and their
associated out-
comes can no longer be contained within national boundaries.
This makes
them a global problem of huge proportions, and it means that
alleviating
poverty and reducing inequality are critical to maintaining and
strengthen-
ing regional and global stability. That is why the UN has made
reducing world
poverty a top priority—it is a target under the first of the
Millennium Devel-
opment Goals (MDGs) adopted at the UN Millennium Summit—
and that is
why the World Bank takes as its fundamental mission to build a
world free of
poverty.3
Financial Stability

The emergence of a global, market-based financial economy has
brought
considerable benefits to those middle-income countries at the
forefront of
economic reform and liberalization—the so-called emerging
market economies.
Thanks largely to the opening of the financial sector in these
countries, investors
in other countries can now better diversify their investment
choices across
domestic and international assets, increasing their expected rate
of return. Busi-
nesses within these countries, meanwhile, are better able to
finance promising
ideas and fund their expansion plans. As a result, financial
resources worldwide
are invested more efficiently, boosting economic growth and
living standards on
both sides of these transactions.
But, as chapter 3 argues, the globalization of financial markets
has proved
to be a double-edged sword. Even in those countries where
liberalization
has been a tonic for economic growth, it has also raised the real
risk of
financial crisis. The most controversial aspect of financial
liberaliza-
tion involves the liberalization of portfolio flows, especially
short-term bor-
rowing. The dangers were brought into sharp focus during the
East Asian
financial crisis of the late 1990s, mentioned above. The failure
of financial

b
lic
a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
systems in that episode imposed high economic and social costs,
such as
rampant unemployment, increased migration, social conflict,
and social
instability—and not only in the countries directly affected. In
the wake of
this and other crises, an urgent debate has been launched over
reform of the

international financial architecture to reduce the chances of
further finan-
cial instability.
Aid for Development
Foreign aid has been one of the foundations of international
cooperation for
many decades. A large part of such aid is intended to promote
development
in low- and middle-income countries: almost every country in
the world has
benefited from aid at some time in its development history. Aid
comes from
both government sources (in which case it is called official
development assis-
tance) and private sources. Among government sources are the
bilateral aid
programs of national governments, such as the U.S. Agency for
International
Development, and international financial institutions, such as
the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Private sources
include a grow-
ing number of charitable and other nongovernmental
organizations, among
others. Besides directly financing a vast range of development
activities, aid
also comes in the form of debt relief for the world’s heavily
indebted countries.
Aid for development plays, and is expected to continue to play,
a vital role
in addressing many of the global issues discussed in this book.
Meanwhile the
growth of global programs and funds and the emergence of new

bilateral and
private donors are increasing the channels by which aid is
delivered. With this
expansion in the volume and sources of aid, more and better
coordination
among donors will be essential if aid is to be delivered
effectively. Chapter 4
discusses the basic concepts of international assistance, the
forces shaping aid
for development, the various criticisms levied against existing
aid programs,
international responses to increase the volume and the
effectiveness of aid
flows, and the prospects for increasing worldwide aid and for
better moni-
toring of its use and impact.
Debt Relief and Debt Sustainability
For the world’s poorest countries, foreign aid and the ability to
take on foreign
debt present a valuable opportunity to invest in their own
development. But
foreign borrowing poses great disadvantages as well as great
advantages. On the
one hand, when the proceeds of public borrowing are invested
wisely, directed
at the right policies and programs, they can indeed promote
more rapid devel-
opment. On the other hand, too much borrowing, or any
borrowing that is not
undertaken prudently, can act as a drag on the economy, as
precious funds

a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
must then be devoted to debt service rather than to serving the
country’s
development needs. As chapter 5 explains, debt that is rising
rapidly relative to
a country’s output or exports can threaten that country’s very
future.
This threat became increasingly and painfully evident in the
case of a num-
ber of low-income countries in the 1980s and 1990s. Their

plight sparked an
international advocacy campaign, popularly know as the Jubilee
movement,
to forgive the debts of the poorest countries with huge debt
burdens. This
campaign led in turn to the launch of the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries
(HIPC) Initiative in 1996, to address the excessive debt burdens
of the world’s
poorest nations. Since then, 38 of these countries—32 of them
in Sub-
Saharan Africa—have qualified or potentially qualify for HIPC
assistance, and
of these, 18 are now receiving irrevocable debt relief and 10 are
receiving
interim relief. The rest have been beset by persistent social
difficulties that
make debt relief infeasible for now. However, at their summit in
Gleneagles,
Scotland, in 2005, the leaders of the Group of Eight major
industrial nations
pledged to eventually write off 100 percent of the debt of the
poorest African
countries. In line with this proposal, officially known as the
Multilateral Debt
Relief Initiative, efforts are under way to provide $37 billion in
debt relief to
countries that are at the HIPC completion stage.
International Migration
Increasing flows of people across national borders are both a
contributor to and
a consequence of a more interconnected world. About 180
million people
worldwide already live outside their country of birth, and

pressure for interna-
tional migration will continue, driven by differences in
demographics and real
incomes between countries. Research shows that although the
largest economic
gains from immigration accrue to the immigrants themselves,
the international
migration of labor can also benefit both the countries receiving
immigrants and
the countries sending them, and that on balance it boosts world
income and
reduces poverty. In the receiving countries, migrants can fill
labor shortages in
certain industries. In the sending countries, they can help ease
unemployment
and other social pressures while increasing financial inflows, in
the form of
remittances from the migrants to their families back home.
Remittances also
help level out the distribution of income both within and across
countries.
Worldwide remittances have doubled in the past decade,
reaching $216 billion
in 2004, according to official statistics, of which $151 billion is
estimated to have
gone to developing countries. Actual remittances are most likely
higher,
because remittances through informal channels fail to be
counted.
Migration is not without its costs, however. For the migrants
themselves,
the journey itself and the search for fair employment and
humane treatment

lic
a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
in the host country can be arduous and risky. The host country
government
may bear added costs to assimilate the migrants, and wages for
some native
workers may fall. The home country may suffer a loss of
valuable skilled
workers. The sum of these and other costs depends, of course,
on the num-
ber of migrants, and so the major issues surrounding

international migration
today, which chapter 6 examines, are how to help countries
adapt to large-
scale migration and how to improve its global development
impact. Equitable
migration is also ultimately linked to other broader issues such
as poverty
reduction and human rights, making it a global concern.
International Trade
In an ever more integrated world economy, international trade
matters more
than ever before. As chapter 7 argues, a robust and equitable
trading system
is central to the fight against global poverty, because it drives
economic
growth and provides jobs in developing countries where they
are sorely
needed. Measured by the volume of goods and services traded,
world trade
continues to grow, and just since 2000, the exports of
developing countries as
a group have increased their share of world markets by more
than a fifth, from
19 percent to 23 percent. Yet growth in trade in many low-
income countries
has long been held back by protectionist policies in the more
developed
countries. Many rich countries offer subsidies to politically
favored domestic
industries such as sugar, textiles, apparel, and steel. These
subsidies are a
serious barrier to low-income countries’ exports.
The Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks, now

under way
under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is
the first such
round to place developing country interests at the center of the
negotiations.
Although progress on the Doha round stalled following the
collapse of the
September 2003 WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún,
Mexico, WTO
members have committed themselves to make progress as the
talks proceed.
Delivering on the promise of lowering tariffs as well as
nontariff barriers in
both developed and developing countries could stimulate
worldwide increases
in income that would lift an estimated 144 million people out of
poverty.
Food Security
In a world of growing prosperity and agricultural abundance,
about 800 mil-
lion people still do not get enough to eat. Eliminating hunger is
thus one of
the most fundamental challenges facing humanity. The
challenge is a complex
one—so much so that this book devotes two chapters to
unraveling its
multiple dimensions. As chapter 8 explains, the task of reducing
hunger—
another one of the targets under the first of the MDGs—is
shaped by

a
tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
interlinked issues of food availability, access to food, food
security, and food
distribution. Food availability refers to the supply of food,
whether at the
global, regional, national, or local level, without regard to the
ability of
individuals to acquire it. Sources of supply may include
production within the
household, domestic commercial food production, food stocks
accumulated
in earlier periods, commercially purchased imports, and food

aid. There are
presently no signs of a food availability problem at the global
level. In fact,
global food production has more than kept pace with growing
world popula-
tion in recent decades, increasing in per capita terms by 0.9
percent annually
and even faster in such populous developing countries as China
and India.
In most circumstances, the main cause of food insecurity is not
lack of
availability but lack of access at the household level: because of
weak
purchasing power and insufficient household agricultural
production—both
characteristics associated with poverty—millions of people
cannot obtain
enough of the food that is available locally to meet their dietary
needs. And
even access to sufficient food at the household level does not
guarantee that
all individuals will have an adequate food intake. That depends
upon the
distribution of food among household members, methods of
food prepara-
tion, dietary preferences, and mother-child feeding habits—
issues taken up
further in chapter 11.
Global Human Development
Part Two of the book covers three global issues related to the
development
and preservation of human capability: communicable diseases,
education, and
malnutrition. The Human Development Reports team of the UN

Develop-
ment Programme has defined the task of human development as
“creating an
environment in which people can develop their full potential
and lead
productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and
interests.”4 Build-
ing human capabilities through education, health services, and
access to
resources and knowledge is fundamental to human development.
Most of the
actions needed lie within the domain of national governments,
but broad-
based human development also has significant externalities, or
spillover
effects, that make it a global issue. Education, good health, and
good nutrition
are all vital not only for the earning capacity and general well-
being of
individuals but also for the prosperity of national economies
and, in a
globalizing world, for the global economy. Controlling the
global spread of
diseases is determined in part by the effectiveness of national
public health
programs, but also by the degree of international cooperation in
containing
outbreaks, and the weakest link in the chain determines the risk
for all. The
importance of education, health, and nutrition both for
individuals and for

tio
n
s.
A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
human society at all levels explains why several of the MDGs
focus on these
human development issues.
Communicable Diseases
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are just a few of the
infectious diseases
that continue to plague humankind, especially in the developing
world.
Meanwhile new threats such as avian flu and severe acute
respiratory

syndrome (SARS) continue to emerge. With essential vaccines
and immu-
nizations still underprovided in many developing countries,
communicable
diseases are an international public health issue that has caught
the attention
of the global public and its leaders. There is increasing global
awareness that
communicable diseases do not respect national borders and that
how these
diseases are dealt with in developing countries has
consequences both for
global public health and for the global economy.
As chapter 9 reports, this view is well grounded in years of
research, which
has produced some important breakthroughs but also reported
some
dismaying findings: 40 million people worldwide are now
infected with HIV,
and those infected experience a decline in life expectancy of 6
to 7 years on
average; communicable diseases represent 7 of the top 10
causes of child
mortality in developing countries, even though 90 percent of
these deaths are
avoidable. Improvements in global public health not only
promise relief from
human suffering on a vast scale but also have important
economic benefits,
as reductions in mortality, reduced incidence of disease,
improved nutrition
leading to improved intellectual capacity, and other gains feed
through to a
larger, more productive, and more capable world labor force.

Education
In today’s global economy, education has become more vital
than ever before
in determining whether people, their local communities, and
their countries
achieve their potential and prosper. The world economy is
undergoing
changes that make it much more difficult for individuals in any
country to
thrive without the skills and tools that a quality education
provides. This is
particularly important for the poor, who rely on their skills and
labor as their
way out of poverty.
As chapter 10 explains, these changes present new challenges
and oppor-
tunities for educators and educational systems, and the stakes
are tremen-
dously high. The choices that countries make today about
education could
lead to sharply divergent outcomes in the decades ahead.
Countries that
respond astutely should experience extraordinary educational
progress, with
from
C

A
ll
ri
g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
major social and economic benefits, including catch-up gains
for the poor
and marginalized. Countries that fail to recognize the challenge
and respond
to it risk stagnating or even slipping backward, widening social
and economic
gaps and sowing the seeds of unrest.
Malnutrition
As chapter 11 reminds us, malnutrition remains the world’s
most serious
health problem and the single biggest contributor to child
mortality. Nearly
one-third of all children in the developing world are either
underweight or
stunted, and more than 30 percent of the developing world’s

population suffer
from micronutrient deficiencies. Without investments to reduce
malnutrition,
many countries will fail to achieve the MDGs, and other major
international
efforts in health may be derailed. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
malnutrition rates are
increasing, and in South Asia, which has the highest prevalence
of undernu-
trition of any region, the situation is improving only slowly.
There is now unequivocal evidence that workable solutions to
the malnu-
trition problem are available. An example is the strikingly low
cost at which
micronutrients could be provided to those in need of them: one
estimate is that
all of Africa’s micronutrient needs could be met for a mere
$235 million a year.
Indeed, interventions such as these have been shown to be
excellent economic
investments. The May 2004 Copenhagen Consensus of eminent
economists,
which included a number of Nobel laureates, concluded that,
among a lengthy
list of interventions proposed to meet the world’s myriad
development chal-
lenges, nutrition interventions pay some of the highest returns.
Global Environment and Natural Resources
Part Three of the book focuses on issues related to conserving
and more equi-
tably sharing the planet’s environmental and natural resources
in ways that
meet present needs without undermining future uses. This is the
essence of

environmental sustainability—a concept reflected in yet another
of the
MDGs. Resources such as a stable world climate, energy, clean
and fresh
water, fisheries, and forests are all part of the global commons,
and all are
already under stress. Those stresses will only become more
intense as world
population and incomes increase, and as today’s developing
countries follow
consumption paths taken decades earlier by the developed
countries. Yet
addressing the challenges of sustainable resource use is
hampered by a sober-
ing reality: many of the world’s resources are global public
goods, which
means (as discussed below) that individuals and individual
nations acting
only in their self-interest will fail to take fully into account the
implications of
their consumption for the well-being of other people and other
countries. In
from
C
o
p
yr

g
h
ts
r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
the absence of foresightful and globally coordinated policies,
exploitation of
these resources can easily become a race to grab whatever one
can grab before
nothing is left. The chapters in this part of the book discuss
these issues of how
to manage shared global resources and use them in a sustainable
fashion.
Climate Change
Virtually all climate scientists now agree that climate change is
occurring and
is due largely to human activity, and that further change is
inevitable. Recent
studies indicate that human activity over the past 100 years has
triggered a
historically unprecedented rise in global surface temperatures
and ocean levels,
with a worrisome acceleration particularly over the past two
decades. The con-

sequences will affect billions of people, particularly in poor
countries and in
subtropical regions, through decreases in agricultural
productivity, increased
incidence of flooding and of severe weather events, an expanded
range of
waterborne diseases, loss of biodiversity, and a number of other
effects. Beyond
this, if the global climate is pushed far out of balance, it may
become launched
on an irreversible course toward catastrophe, with worldwide
repercussions.
Thus, as chapter 12 argues, there is an urgent need to develop
an effective
response to climate change. That response will necessarily be
twofold,
requiring, on the one hand, internationally coordinated efforts
to prevent still
further climate change, and on the other, cost-effective
adaptations to a world
in which a changing climate is certain to affect the livelihoods
of all, and
especially the poor.
Energy
The world economy of 2035 will be three to four times its
present size, thanks
largely to rising incomes in developing countries. Even if
dramatic improve-
ments in energy efficiency are achieved, this vastly expanded
activity will
consume much more energy than the world uses today.
Pressures to supply
enough fossil fuel, biomass, and electricity to meet world

demand will there-
fore only get worse. As chapter 13 explains, world economic
activity must
become radically less carbon intensive, to avoid not only
environmental dis-
aster through climate change but also health disasters on an epic
scale, as cities
in the developing world choke under a fog of pollution. A shift
to renewable
energy and low- or no-carbon fuels is essential, as are the
development and
adoption of energy-efficient technologies.
Water
During the past century, while world population has tripled, the
use of fresh
water for human consumption, agriculture, and other activities
has increased
from
C
o
p
yr
ig
h
t

r
e
se
rv
e
d
.
sixfold. Some rivers that formerly reached the sea no longer do
so—all of the
water is diverted to human use before it reaches the river’s
mouth. Half the
world’s wetlands have disappeared in the same period, and
today 20 percent
of freshwater species are endangered or extinct. Many important
aquifers are
being depleted, and water tables in many parts of the world are
dropping at
an alarming rate. Worse still, world water use is projected to
increase by about
50 percent in the next 30 years. It is estimated that, by 2025, 4
billion people—
half the world’s population at that time—will live under
conditions of severe
water stress, with conditions particularly severe in Africa, the
Middle East,
and South Asia. Currently, an estimated 1.1 billion people lack
access to safe
water, 2.6 billion are without adequate sanitation, and more
than 4 billion do
not have their wastewater treated to any degree. These numbers
are likely to

14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015Classical .docx

14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015Classical .docx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015Classical .docx

Similar to 14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015Classical .docx (12)

More from aulasnilda

More from aulasnilda (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

14 Social Alternatives Vol. 34 No. 1, 2015Classical .docx