Ethical Challenges in Global Governance

Abstract

This article focuses, first, on the moral legitimacy, leadership, and capacity of public service, and their potential role in considerations of ethics in international relations, in general, and corruption, in particular. Second, arguing that realpolitik has attenuated our analysis of corruption and our ability to oppose it on moral grounds, a case is made for linking the scholarly work on corruption and the scholarly work on morality in international relations, in order to enrich our understanding of corruption as a key moral concern of global governance, and to enable us, as well, to design and deliver effective anti-corruption initiatives across the globe. Finally, the article concludes with a call for morally independent and resilient public administrators as key players in competent states, as well as collaboration between practitioners and scholars in the development of new skills and strategies to advance democratic discourse and decision making at all levels of governance.