Abstract: Loyalty is part of the glue that holds relationships together in times of difficulty. Surprisingly,
however, hardly any literature exists on the role of loyalty in international relations. The
concept is routinely invoked – not least the notion of the ‘loyal ally’ - but typically only in
passing and often based on questionable assumptions about the nature and effect of loyalty.
Building on literature in moral philosophy on the ethics of loyalty, this paper presents loyalty
as persistently partial behaviour driven by affective attachments. Such attachments are, in turn,
driven mainly by a sense of shared social identity but also the interaction between subjects and
objects of loyalty. I show how this understanding of loyalty differs from how most political
scientists use the concept and illustrate why it matters for the study of world politics.
Publication Year: 2020
Publication Date: 2020-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
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