Justice, legitimacy and self-determination: Moral foundations for international law Allen Buchanan Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007, 520pp., ISBN: 0198295359 Contemporary Political Theory (2009) 8, 111–112. doi:10.1057/cpt.2008.33 For everyone interested in political theory and global justice, Buchanan’s Justice, legitimacy and self-determination: Moral foundations for international law is an essential read. It offers an insightful general theory of international justice and it also represents the fullest statement of Buchanan’s political theory to date and does so in a manner that befits its place in the excellent OUP political theory series. It is a book that explores the key issues of humanitarian intervention, distributive justice, global governance, secession and state breakdown and situates the argument in a holistic exploration of the central question of whether peace or justice should be the goal of international law. The appeal of this book goes further than the fact that it engages with the most urgent issues in world affairs. As a work of normative political theory, it promises an innovative approach to the way political theory explores questions of global justice. The major promise of this ambitious book is that it will be an engagement with moral theory and with the law as it exists and with the institutions of the International Legal Order; and that this will be an argument that crosses the boundaries between Public International Law and moral and political theory. While the work of constructivists in international political theory belies the claim that the linkage between theory and practise is unique to Buchanan’s political thought, I do think that, when we limit the field to liberal political theory, Buchanan is attempting to do something very distinctive. The interplay between moral theory and the institutions of the international legal order is the bedrock of Buchanan’s account of secession, humanitarian intervention, state legitimacy and his critique of the UN (that is, all the interesting practical stuff). It also forms the basis of the working parts of his argument – the Moral Theory of International Law (outlined in the superb first chapter that orientates the reader) and the associated demand for a human rights-based conception of justice applied through institutional moral reasoning. It is that last phrase – institutional moral reasoning – that is central to Buchanan’s case. He argues that a defensible moral theory of international law must take into account that fact that moral principles of international law are institutional principles. The critical heart of this challenging book is the idea that a liberal conception of international justice has to relate to existing Book Reviews 111 r 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1470-8914 Contemporary Political Theory Vol. 8, 1, 106–121