| Cold War international relations theory allowed little, if any, room for considering the role of moral authority in international relations. In the post-Cold War period, social constructivism has contributed to international relations theory a new paradigm that both allows a role for such authority and provides a coherent explanation of how moral authority can affect politics. This dissertation uses the Catholic Church as a case study of transnational moral authorities (TMAs) to show the utility of the constructivist approach. Specifically, this dissertation draws on examples of Church activism in Malawi's transition to democracy (1992--1994), at the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, Egypt), and regarding the 1991 Persian Gulf War. After demonstrating that the Church's moral authority swayed international politics in each case, this dissertation suggests that Church influence comes about through participation in political discourse, often by framing that discourse in ways that prioritize moral concerns as conceived by the Church. |
