The international community is a phrase used in international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. The term is typically used to imply the existence of a common point of view towards such matters as specific issues of human rights. Activists, politicians, and commentators often use the term in calling for action to be taken; e.g., action against what is in their opinion political repression in a target country.
The term is commonly used to imply consensus for a point of view on a disputed issue; e.g., to enhance the credibility of a majority vote in the United Nations General Assembly.
Noam Chomsky has noted the use of the term to refer to the United States and its client states and allies in the media of those states. The scholar and academic Martin Jacques says: "We all know what is meant by the term 'international community', don't we? It's the west, of course, nothing more, nothing less. Using the term 'international community' is a way of dignifying the west, of globalising it, of making it sound more respectable, more neutral and high-faluting." Chomsky has written that the phrase international community means Washington, which is more limited than the west or even United States of America.