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This book collects works of fundamental importance by the late Professor Martin Wight about the theory and political philosophy of international relations.
List of contents
- Foreword
- Preface: Martin Wight's Scholarly Stature
- 1: Introduction: Martin Wight and the Political Philosophy of International Relations
- 2: Why Is There No International Theory?
- 3: An Anatomy of International Thought
- 4: Western Values in International Relations
- 5: Three Questions of Methodology
- 6: Machiavellian Temptations: Methodological Warning
- 7: The Balance of Power in The World in March 1939
- 8: Kaplan's System and Process
- 9: Is There a Philosophy of Statesmanship?
- 10: The Communist Theory of International Relations
- 11: The Idea of Just War
- 12: The Causes of War: An Historian's View
- 13: Gain, Fear, and Glory: Reflections on the Nature of International Politics
- 14: Correspondence about War in The Listener
- 15: On the Abolition of War: Observations on a Memorandum by Walter Millis
- 16: International Legitimacy
- 17: Reflections on International Legitimacy
- 18: Dynastic Legitimacy
- 19: Popular Legitimacy
- 20: What Confers Political Legitimacy in a Modern Society?
- 21: Note on Conquest and Cession
- 22: Fortune's Banter
- 23: Review of Hugh Ross Williamson, Charles and Cromwell
- 24: Review of E. H. Carr, The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939
- 25: Review of Friedrich Meinecke, Machiavellism: The Doctrine of Raison d'état and its Place in Modern History
- 26: Review of Richard W. Sterling, Ethics in a World of Power: The Political Ideas of Friedrich Meinecke
- 27: Review of Hans J. Morgenthau, Dilemmas of Politics, and Correspondence
- 28: Review of Kenneth W. Thompson, Political Realism and the Crisis of World Politics: An American Approach to Foreign Policy
- 29: Review of J. L. Talmon, Political Messianism: The Romantic Phase
- 30: Review of Raymond Aron, Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations
About the author
Martin Wight was one of the most important twentieth century British scholars of International Relations. He taught at the London School of Economics (1949-1961) and the University of Sussex (1961-1972), where he served as the founding Dean of the School of European Studies. Wight is often associated with the British Committee on the Theory of International Politics and the so-called English School of International Relations.
David S. Yost is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. His books have been published by Harvard University Press, the United States Institute of Peace, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He has held fellowships from Fulbright, NATO, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the United States Institute of Peace.
Summary
This book collects works by the late Professor Martin Wight (1913-1972), an historian and scholar of international relations.
He conducted research on many topics, including British colonial history, European studies, international institutions, and the history and sociology of states-systems. He is nonetheless best known for his teaching about the political philosophy of international relations at the London School of Economics (1949-1961) and the University of Sussex (1961-1972). He is widely regarded as an intellectual ancestor and path-breaker of the 'English School' of international relations, even though this term only gained currency nine years after his death. While there is no generally accepted definition of the 'English School', it is usually construed as signifying an approach to the study of international relations more rooted in historical and humanistic learning than in the social sciences. Wight's achievements are consistent with this broad definition.
This volume includes works in four categories: (a) traditions of thinking about international relations since the sixteenth century; (b) the causes and functions of war; (c) international and regime legitimacy; and (d) fortune and irony in international politics. In addition to classic essays such as 'Why Is There No International Theory?' and 'Western Values in International Relations' that complement his posthumous 1991 book International Theory: The Three Traditions, this volume includes previously unpublished works on international legitimacy and the causes of war. Wight's analysis of legitimacy examines the evolution of thinking from dynastic to popular approaches, while his work on the causes of war builds on Thucydides and Hobbes.
