Bridging the contending theories of natural law and international relations, this book proposes a 'relational ontology' as the basis for rethinking our approach to international politics. Amanda Beattie challenges both the conventional interpretation of natural law as necessarily and intractably theological, and the dominant conception of international relations as structurally distinct from the ends of human good, in order to recover the centrality of other-directed agency to the promotion of human development. Offering an important contribution to the study of international political thought, the book contains a number of challenging and controversial ideas which should provoke constructive debate within international relations theory, political theory, and philosophical ethics.Bridging the contending theories of natural law and international relations, this book proposes a 'relational ontology' as the basis for rethinking our approach to international politics. The book contains a number of challenging and controversial ideas on the study of international political thought which should provoke constructive debate within international relations theory, political theory, and philosophical ethics.Dr Amanda Russell Beattie, Lecturer, Aston University, School of Languages and Social Sciences, Politics & International Relations, UK'Amanda Beatties first concern is human suffering. Methodically drawing on the new natural law and many other sources, she develops an account of moral agency, a casuistry of care , a discourse of hope to change the way we think about ourselves, our relations with others, and the practice of international politics.' Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University and University of Southern California, USAIntroduction Realizing the Human Experience: Vulnerability and Human Suffering; Chapter 1 International Relations and Modern Institutional Design: Locating the Isolated Individual; Chapter 2 The Morality of Natural Law and InternalSQ