| Abstract: | New communitarianism is important even to those who care little about academic disputes. A greatly altered communitarian position
lays the foundation for an international legal framework that is more comprehensive than the United Nations' Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. It is more attentive to beliefs in the East, and enhances the ability of nations that adhere to different
values to find common ground on policies ranging from humanitarian interventions to fighting terrorist groups. The article
first examines criticisms leveled against communitarianism and then highlights the ways a neo-communitarian approach has overcome
these criticisms. The question of under what circumstances one nation may interfere in the internal affairs of another, especially
to advance human rights, using means as different as cross cultural moral judgments to armed humanitarian interventions, serves
as a litmus test for distinguishing the new from the old communitarian approach. |
