Empires, Systems and States
Great Transformations in International Politics

This volume considers how we arrived at this historical and institutional expression of political community.

Michael Cox (Edited by), Tim Dunne (Edited by), Ken Booth (Edited by)

9780521016865, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 April 2002

312 pages, 1 table
24.8 x 17.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.617 kg

'Readers, or prospective readers, should not … be put off by the publishing date or labour under a misapprehension that everything changed on 11 September 2001 and, therefore, everything written before that is outdated or not applicable. One of the greatest strengths of this collection of essays is the historical perspective the authors bring to our understanding of 'great transformations.' The Journal of European Affairs

This volume brings together a collection of leading scholars to consider various dimensions of the 'turn' to history in International Relations. The scope of this volume is broad. It includes conventional accounts of the development of the European states system, but is not limited by it. Other essays consider the non-European experience; a number of path-breaking essays on how other cultures and continents have ordered their political communities, in particular, the question how and why a states system triumphed over other forms of political organisation. The theme of the subtitle - great transformations - is pursued by each author. The essays consider one of the biggest questions of our time, namely, how did we arrive at this historical and institutional expression of political community? And what alternative future world orders exist? The volume will be of interest to scholars of International Relations and History interested in great transformations in world politics.

Foreword Richard Little
Introduction Michael Cox, Tim Dunne and Ken Booth
1. Rethinking the sovereign state model Stephen D. Krasner
2. System, empire and state in Chinese international relations Yongjin Zhang
3. The rise of the state system in Africa Carolyn M. Warner
4. Between anarchy and tyranny: excellence and the pursuit of power and peace in ancient Greece Nany Kokaz
5. Before sovereignty: society and politics in ancien régime Europe Andreas Osiander
6. The eighteenth century international system: parity or primacy James R. Sofka
7. The long nineteenth century in Europe: reinterpreting the concert system Hudson Meadwell
8. American power and the empire of capitalist democracy G. John Ikenberry
9. The Russian-Soviet empire: a test of neorealism William Wohlforth
10. Another 'double movement': the great transformation after the Cold War Ian Clark
11 Capitalism and world (dis)order Giovanni Arrighi and Beverley J. Silver
12. Variation and change and transitions in international politics Robert Jervis.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]