*Originally published in 2022 and preserved as part of our archive project.Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support our work.

With the ongoing war in the Ukraine, international politicians and campaign organisations are continually inviting us to express support for the solidarity actions of international civil society. International civil society is increasingly seen to be key in pressurising the Russian regime and mobilizing public opinion behind the defence of the Ukraine. Who wouldn’t want to be part of international civil society? Who wouldn’t want to take the opportunity to show that they belong to international civil society, even to show that they take their membership responsibilities seriously? Against this growing moral consensus, it is important to flag up the unpleasant paradox at the heart of international civil society. The paradox is that international civil society is in essence neither particularly international nor inclusive, nor particularly civil and peace-loving, but rather works upon divisive moral binaries which can easily become highly racializing and dangerously militaristic.

Firstly, ‘international civil society’ is not very international. Whilst the rhetoric of solidarity with the Ukraine is couched in universalizing terms of ‘global’, ‘world-wide’ or ‘international’ moral outrage, the states of the Global........

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