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How did the 'Hobbesian state of nature' and the 'discourse of anarchy' - separated by three centuries - come to be seen as virtually synonymous? Before Anarchy offers a novel account of Hobbes's interpersonal and international state of nature and rejects two dominant views. In one, international relations is a warlike Hobbesian anarchy, and in the other, state sovereignty eradicates the state of nature. In combining the contextualist method in the history of political thought and the historiographical method in international relations theory, Before Anarchy traces Hobbes's analogy between natural men and sovereign states and its reception by Pufendorf, Rousseau and Vattel in showing their intellectual convergence with Hobbes. Far from defending a 'realist' international theory, the leading political thinkers of early modernity were precursors of the most enlightened liberal theory of international society today. By demolishing twentieth-century anachronisms, Before Anarchy bridges the divide between political theory, international relations and intellectual history.
List of contents
Part I. Hobbesian Variations: 1. Introduction: Hobbes after anarchy; 2. Hobbes before anarchy; 3. Hobbes without anarchy; 4. Hobbes against anarchy; Part II. Hobbesian Receptions: 5. Pufendorf's anti-Hobbesian camouflage; 6. Pufendorf's international thought; 7. Rousseau and the quest for peace; 8. Vattel the sorry comforter; Epilogue: globalizing political thought.
About the author
Theodore Christov is Assistant Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University, Washington, DC, where he teaches intellectual history and political theory. He is also a Faculty Affiliate at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs. He has previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Theory at Northwestern University, Illinois. His research interests lie in international political thought, early modern and modern political theory, and classical theories of international relations. He has published on Hobbes and international thought, Vattel and the liberal state, and the federal idea of early modern Europe.
Summary
Before Anarchy is for political theory, international relations and intellectual history scholars. It rejects influential interpretations of Hobbes's theory prevalent both in early modernity and in the twentieth century. It challenges basic assumptions of their core theories and contributes to the burgeoning fields of international political theory and international history.
