This book has examined the relationship between cosmopolitanism as a moral standard and the (legal) institutions in which cosmopolitan norms and principles are to be implemented. The several chapters have analyzed five areas of global concern: environmental protection, economic regulation, peace and security, the fight against international crimes, and migration. The question regarding the relation between moral cosmopolitanism and legal institutions has gained renewed attention in the past few decades, mainly for two reasons.

In the first place, cosmopolitan norms affect many areas of contemporary life. As Jeremy Waldron has argued, these cosmopolitan norms have penetrated daily life as “a dense thicket of rules that sustain our life together, a life shared by people and peoples, not just in any particular society but generally on the face of the Earth.” Cosmopolitan ideals have also found their way into international legal documents and have inspired the establishment of international institutions. Increasingly, international law has incorporated notions such as “the common bonds” and the “shared heritage” of all peoples, the idea of human dignity, or the notion that environmental protection is a “common concern of humankind.” Of course, this is not to say that all international institutions and regimes are now founded upon cosmopolitan principles or moving progressively towards ideals of global justice.

This book deals with the strained relationship between cosmopolitanism as a moral standard and the real existing institutions in which cosmopolitan ideals are to be implemented.

Cosmopolitanism is an age-old normative ideal which contends that all kosmopolitês, all citizens of the world, share a membership in one single community, the cosmopolis, which is governed by a universal and egalitarian law. Martha Nussbaum describes such cosmopolitans as persons “whose primary allegiance is to the worldwide community of human beings.” This cosmopolitan notion of a common humanity translates normatively into the idea that we have moral duties towards all human beings since “every human being has a global stature as the ultimate unit of moral concern.” From ancient philosophy onwards, the cosmopolis has been portrayed as a perfect order, guided by divine or natural reason, and contrasted to actual men-ruled polises that were failing ideals of justice and law. Cicero, for example, described true cosmopolitan law as:

In similar fashion, some contemporary cosmopolitan thinkers seek to ground cosmopolitanism on naturalist arguments, albeit with slight modifications and variations.