The usual phrase for the aims of foreign policy from the Peace of Westphalia to 1918 was 'interests and honor.' In the Age of the Dictators and the Cold War, 'honor' was derided or perverted but the underlying human concern persisted in the policies of the West, erupted in the revolt against the Empires, and healed every international dispute down to our day. This book offers a history and discussion of this, beginning with persons, social organizations, and business corporations, and then telling the story in international politics from the early modern period to the present.

Originally published in 1978, this book examines how the states-system grew over generations, first within Europe, then world wide and how the idea of the state came to monopolise our vision of the world. It discusses the grounds for the division of humanity into separate states in reason and history and whether or not we can use terms like 'obligation' and 'justice' in seeking to understand our relations with people of other states.