The agent-structure problem is a much discussed issue in the field of international relations. In his comprehensive 2006 analysis of this problem, Colin Wight deconstructs the accounts of structure and agency embedded within differing IR theories and, on the basis of this analysis, explores the implications of ontology - the metaphysical study of existence and reality. Wight argues that there are many gaps in IR theory that can only be understood by focusing on the ontological differences that construct the theoretical landscape. By integrating the treatment of the agent-structure problem in...

With stocks reduced, and plans revised, relations between states with nuclear arsenals have been transformed after the Cold War. However, Patrick Morgan argues that these changes have not been accompanied by great advances in our knowledge of whether and how deterrence works. He accordingly explores the state of deterrence theory and its continuing relevance under conditions of nuclear proliferation, collective security organizations, and a revolution in military affairs.

Nations at War provides a scientifically-derived explanation of war. It develops this explanation by reviewing data-based studies of international conflict, analyzing war from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries, and identifying factors such as geography, regimes, military capabilities, alliances, and trade associated with both the onset and destructiveness of these conflicts. Two wars (the Iran/Iraq war of 1980, and World War I) are examined in detail in an effort to show how wars begin and sometimes expand to include other states. This unique book collates and synthesizes the findings...

It is commonly said that democracies very seldom fight each other. This book asks whether the assumption of a "democratic peace" is valid and seeks to explain why. Explanations explored include the accountability of democratic leaders to domestic institutions; the norms of democratic competition which influence international affairs; and the common interests which democracies have pursued.

This book shows how peace movements affected US decisions to enter nuclear arms control talks during the Cold War. Most scholarship assumes that state policies on pursuing international cooperation are set by national leaders, in response either to international conditions, or to their own interests and ideas. By demonstrating the importance of public protest and citizen activism, Jeffrey Knopf shows how state preferences for cooperation can be shaped from below.

Republicanism has enjoyed a revival of interest in several fields. In this book Nicholas Onuf provides the first major treatment of the republican way of thinking about law, politics and society in the context of international thought. The author's discussion of republicanism starts with Aristotle and culminates in the eighteenth century, when international thought became a distinctive enterprise. By analyzing the thought of Vattel and Kant he identifies a substantial legacy of republicanism in contemporary discussions of sovereignty, intervention, international society, peace, and the global...

Molly Cochran offers an account of the development of normative theory in international relations over the past two decades. In particular, she analyzes the tensions between cosmopolitan and communitarian approaches to international ethics, paying attention to differences in their treatments of a concept of the person, the moral standing of states and the scope of moral arguments. The book draws connections between this debate and the tension between foundationalist and antifoundationalist thinking and offers an argument for a pragmatic approach to international ethics.

This book examines the victimization of minority groups through history. The author argues that genocides, expulsions and forced assimilations have been the result of the efforts of rulers' wish to assert their control and legitimacy. By bringing uniformity to the populations within their boundaries, they legitimate their hold on power. This book thus shows how nationalist ideologies have influenced the form of the international state system, drawing on the experiences of Jews and Moors in Spain, Protestants in France, Armenians in Turkey, and minorities in the former Yugoslavia.

At what point can we concede that the realities of world politics require that moral principles be compromised, and how do we know when a real ethical limit has been reached? This volume gathers leading constructivist scholars to explore the issue of moral limit and possibility in global political dilemmas. The contributors examine pressing ethical challenges such as sanctions, humanitarian intervention, torture, the self-determination of indigenous peoples, immigration, and the debate about international criminal tribunals and amnesties in cases of atrocity. Their analyses entail theoretical...

Leading scholars analyse how moral principles are compromised when we face real problems in international politics.