Sociology is having an increasing impact on the study of international politics. Covering the range of different approaches and methodologies, leading international scholars examine the extent of this influence. They aim to promote a study of world politics which is sensitive to the impact of social structure and historical context, and will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology and political science as well as International Relations.

In this bold intervention, Cudworth and Hobden draw on recent advances in thinking about complexity theory to call for a profound re-envisioning of the study of international relations. As a discipline, IR is wedded to the enlightenment project of overcoming the "hazards" of nature, and thus remains constrained by its blinkered "human-centered" approach. Furthermore, as a means of predicting major global-political events and trends, it has failed consistently. Instead, the authors argue, it is essential we develop a much more nuanced and sophisticated analysis of global political systems,...

This book provides an original analysis of recent work by key historical sociologists through the prism of International Relations. Stephen Hobden investigates the number of issues which overlap between the two disciplines by focusing on three main themes:
* the ways in which historical sociologists approach international relations in general and the concept of an international system in particular
* recent advances on the concept of the state as developed by Historical Sociology and their implications for International Relations
* the potential for productive dialogue between...