Extra Rempublicam Nulla Justitia?

In a world of rivalrous states whose peoples are connected ever more directly by globalization, Thomas Nagel has forcefully reasserted a classical thesis of early modern political thought: outside the state, Nagel argues, there is no justice. From this it follows, given the absence of a global state, that there can be no global justice. Apart from this striking conclusion, however, little in Nagel’s argument echoes the Hobbesian variant of the early modern tradition to which he appeals. Even in our globally stateless condition, Nagel assumes, a humanitarian morality, including protections of basic, universal human rights, imposes obligations across borders, although these obligations fall short of requirements of justice. He acknowledges, too, the growing importance to the lives of individuals the world over of global forms of cooperation organized by specialized institutions that Extra Rempublicam Nulla Justitia? JOSHUA COHEN AND CHARLES SABEL