`Hutchings combines a valuable account of the current state of the art with a lucid expositon of her own, highly distinctive, position. This will be required reading for students in international political theory, and indeed anyone interested in normative issues in international relations' - Chris Brown, London School of Economics and Political Science

Providing an invaluable overview of the competing schools of thought in traditional and contemporary international theory, this book seeks to path the way forward for new ways of thinking about international political morality.

First, the role and place of normative theory in the study of international politics is explained before a discussion of mainstream approaches within international relations and applied ethics. Here the student is introduced to the central debates between realists and idealists, and cosmopolitans and communitarians.

Second, the conceptual challenges of contemporary approaches in critical theory, postmodernism and feminism are outlined and then used as a platform to develop the author's own Hegelian-Foucauldian approach for doing normative international theory.

Third, the insights drawn from each approach are applied to the study of two key topics in contemporary theoretical debate: the right to self-determination, and the idea of cosmopolitan democracy, and conclusions drawn for transcending the theoretical deadlock in international relations.

Accessibly written and wide-ranging, this text will quickly become essential reading for all students and academics of politics and international relations seeking a deeper understanding of the underlying tensions and future potential of international theory today.