Mervyn Frost argues that ethics is accorded a marginal position within the study of international relations and evaluates those ethical theories which do exist within the discipline.

Introduction; 1. The place of normative theory in international relations; 2. Sceptical and realist arguments against normative theory in international relations: a critical approach; 3. Normative issues in international relations: the domain of discourse and the method of argument; 4. Towards the construction of a normative theory of international relations; 5. Reconciling rights and sovereignty: the constitutive theory of individuality; 6. The justification of unconventional violence in international relations: a hard case for normative theory; 7. Who gets what state where? The Bosnian conflict; Conclusion.