It is interesting to look at the irony behind ethics. It's everywhere from people's need to receive something in return for their charity, such as a bracelet or a t-shirt, to raising awareness, which many people, once they achieve this awareness and wear their pink shirts, don't actually do anything further for the cause. When I was in London this past semester, Starbucks had a day that they were giving out free small cups of coffee. What kind of coffee were they giving away? Free trade. I'm not sure exactly why they did this -- maybe they were trying to demonstrate the quality of fair trade coffee while hoping to drive up sales -- but all of this irony in itself seems unethical.
The question I'd like to ask, then is do ethics really matter? Some might argue that ethics don't matter so long as at least something is being done to help a problem, but I'd like to argue that it's the ethical side in all of us that at least pushes us into a little bit of action. States and corporations generally put up fronts to perpetuate a benevolent image, but the people behind the state create this need to satisfy an ethical longing in the first place. No matter how small or how full of irony this longing is, it's something, and as long as it exists, NGO's or Foundations can learn to use it to their advantage -- even if that involves giving out a few stickers or pens in return. Who cares if that's ethical or not? It's getting something done. Ethics do matter, but at different levels and at different points in the game.
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Related to this, which of the 3 traditions of IR and Ethics do you think make sense? That is likely to affect how one answers the question you pose.
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