Many areas of pressing global concern can be addressed successfully only through international collective action. But can effective and efficient solutions be found if questions of distribution, equity and justice are side-stepped? The liberal tradition assumes that some combination of international cooperation and coercion to produce global public goods is possible, even on the basis of self-interest alone. This article argues that equity must be at the core of a framework for international cooperation. The potential value of equity may be considered at three different levels: 1) the production of public goods, 2) the distribution of public goods, and 3) equity as a public good itself.
