Why have nuclear weapons not been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Nina Tannenwald disputes the conventional answer of 'deterrence' as incomplete. She argues in favour of a 'nuclear taboo' - a widespread inhibition on using nuclear weapons - which has arisen in global politics. Drawing on newly-released archival sources, Tannenwald traces the rise of the nuclear taboo, forces that produced it, and its influence, particularly on US leaders. She analyzes four critical instances where US leaders considered using nuclear weapons (Japan 1945, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf...

Republicanism has enjoyed a revival of scholarly interest in several fields. In this book, Nicholas Onuf provides a treatment of the republican way of thinking about law, politics and society in the context of international thought. He tells two stories about republicanism, starting with Aristotle and culminating in the 18th century, when international thought became a distinctive enterprise. These two stories surround the thought of Vattel and Kant, and by telling them side by side the author identifies a substantial but little-acknowledged legacy of republicanism in contemporary discussions...

Arguments have consequences in world politics that are as real as the military forces of states or the balance of power among them. Neta Crawford reveals how ethical arguments, not power politics or economics, explain decolonization, the greatest change in world politics to occur over the last five hundred years. The book also analyzes how argument might be used to to remake contemporary world politics, suggesting how such arguments apply to the issue of humanitarian intervention.

Why have nuclear weapons not been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Nina Tannenwald disputes the conventional answer of 'deterrence' as incomplete. She argues in favour of a 'nuclear taboo' - a widespread inhibition on using nuclear weapons - which has arisen in global politics. Drawing on newly-released archival sources, Tannenwald traces the rise of the nuclear taboo, forces that produced it, and its influence, particularly on US leaders. She analyzes four critical instances where US leaders considered using nuclear weapons (Japan 1945, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf...

Although thinkers such as Thucydides, Rousseau and Hobbes are considered central to the realist tradition, Michael Williams re-evaluates their positions. Arguing that such philosophers were not concerned with methodological issues of rationality and anarchy, as commonly interpreted, Williams asserts that they wanted to establish political practices for leaders which would ensure order. His original interpretation of major thinkers will interest scholars of international relations and the history of ideas.

How is the concept of society understood on a global scale, since members are not individuals, but states, firms, NGOs and nations? Barry Buzan offers an original contribution to the "English School" theory. His study establishes a new theoretical framework emphasizing social structure that can be used to address globalization as complex political interplay among state and non-state actors.

Kalevi Holsti inquires as to how we identify "change" in international politics and distinguish between significant and unimportant changes. Do we really live in a new era or simply see more continuity than transformation in international politics? Combining theoretical and empirical arguments, Holsti investigates eight major international institutions, including sovereignty, international law and territoriality, and speculates on their consequences.

The 1980s was a decade of upheaval unprecedented since the conclusion of World War Two. In 1980 superpower detente had been abandoned and there was no sign of an end to the competition and conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the end of the decade, however, the Cold War was officially declared to have ended. The suddeness and rapidity of change took most observers by surprise, and led many to reassess their assumptions about global politics. This volume brings together a number of scholars who review their own ideas alongside the writing of others to discuss how well...

Dr Stephen Gill examines the extent and nature of Americas as a hegemonic state.

This book, first published in 1989, gives a critical account of formal international relations theory.