"All over the world people face a double and interlocking crisis: the crisis of justice and the crisis of order. At all levels of human existence, peace and survival are threatened, justice denied and dignity violated. In this situation the poor and the oppressed people suffer most. Christian churches, together with communities of other living faiths, are also exposed to these threats-and challenged by them in their life and witness. Hence the urgent need to search for a new articulation of a Christian political ethic. Recent experiences in the context of ecumenical programmes, especially on development, racism and militarism, have led the WCC to initiate a process to explore and identify elements for a Christian political ethic in an ecumenical perspective." Perspectives on Political Ethics is an account of the first