The History of International Relations Theory: An Introduction

This work disputes the idea that speculation about the relations between states only goes back to World War I, but argues that scholars, soldiers and statesmen have speculated about the relations between states since the modern state emerged four or five centuries ago. It identifies the major concepts and themes of these speculations and sketches the tradition of international relations theory through modern history – that part of Western history which is bracketted by the Renaissance and Reformation on one hand and by the second Industrial Revolution and World War I on the other. It notes that this tradition has often been given a jolt and altered by large-scale war, and World War I is a case in point – this war did not so much give birth to international relations theory as give the tradition a major jolt, a new emphasis, a higher popular profile and a new direction of development. This book discusses international relations theory on both sides of this major jolt.