Existential threats, shared responsibility, and Australia’s role in ‘coalitions of the obligated’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12348607 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Toni Erskine (0000-0002-5352-6319, Australian National University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 76 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 130-137 |
| Publication date | 2022-02-23 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Australian Journal Of International Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1035-7718 • E-ISSN: 1465-332X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10357718.2022.2040424 |
| OpenAlex | W4213035013 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 8 |
In the face of the current proliferation of existential threats-the risk of nuclear war, anthropogenic climate change, COVID-19, and (arguably) disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence-it is imperative that Australia embrace the notion of shared responsibility in international politics. Individual states have limited capacities to effectively tackle such large-scale, complex emergencies on their own. Highlighting the moral implications of the philosophical notion of joint action, this commentary makes the case for a particular type of responsibility, which can only be discharged when states deliberate and coordinate their actions. Moreover, it explores what this notion of shared responsibility means for Australia-and its international relationships-with respect to responding to climate chaos and COVID-19. Even though Australia, acting on its own, can neither significantly mitigate climate change nor halt the current global pandemic, it nevertheless has demanding moral responsibilities to respond to both. This is because the capacities necessary to affect meaningful change can be created through collaboration with other institutional agents. In the absence of intergovernmental organizations able to respond effectively to such crises, Australia has shared responsibilities to contribute to establishing, and then acting as part of, informal, purpose-driven, climate change and COVID-19 ‘coalitions of the obligated’
Action (physics · Climate change · Collective responsibility · Environmental ethics · Existentialism · Face (sociological concept · Law and economics · Moral responsibility · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Global Security and Public Health · Law · War, Ethics, and Justification
The Impact of the Strategic Partnership Aukus on the Geopolitical Situation in the Indo-Pacific Region
Responsibility and anxiety in the ‘Pacific family’
Australia as an ecocidal middle power
Cyber Intelligence and Influence
Collective responsibility for climate change
Reluctant to Protect? The Role of Moral Reputation in Joining Military Coalitions
The Australian way
Shared Agency
Can a Random Collection of Individuals be Morally Responsible?
What is So Special about Our Fellow Countrymen?
Intergovernmental Organizations and the Possibility of Institutional Learning
Assigning Responsibilities to Institutional Moral Agents
Coalitions of the Willing and Responsibilities to Protect
Superintelligence
Acting Together
| Citations per year | 1.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |