The Age of Apology

In a turnabout of the cynical belief that might makes right, now nations see fit to issue apologies to peoples and countries they have wronged. We live in an age that seeks to establish political truth, perhaps best exemplified by the creation of truth commissions in societies seeking to emerge from dictatorial pasts. The most noteworthy result of these efforts has been the near-universal realization that a society will not be able to successfully pass into the future until somehow it deals with the horrors of its past.A number of Western states and institutions have sought to come to terms with their relationships to non-Western states and peoples. Powerful actors and institutions are apologizing to the relatively powerless. What do these apologies mean? Are they an indication of a new international order, either politically or as they relate to international law? Or are these apologies fleeting and insignificant? In "The Age of Apology" twenty-two law, politics, and human rights scholars explore the legal, political, social, historical, moral, religious, and anthropological aspects of Western apologies in an attempt to help answer these questions. Conversely, a nonapology might be as important to study, and several chapters discuss the absence or refusal of apology, and how this might be interpreted.Gibney, Mark is the author of 'The Age of Apology', published 2007 under ISBN 9780812240337 and ISBN 0812240332.