The Balance of Power in International Relations: Metaphors, Myths and Models - Hardcover

Little, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521874882 ISBN 13: 9780521874885

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2007

Synopsis

The balance of power has been a central concept in the theory and practice of international relations for the past five hundred years. It has also played a key role in some of the most important attempts to develop a theory of international politics in the contemporary study of international relations. In this 2007 book, Richard Little establishes a framework that treats the balance of power as a metaphor, a myth and a model. He then uses this framework to reassess four major texts that use the balance of power to promote a theoretical understanding of international relations: Hans J. Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations (1948), Hedley Bull's The Anarchical Society (1977), Kenneth N. Waltz's Theory of International Politics (1979) and John J. Mearsheimer's The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001). These reassessments allow the author to develop a more comprehensive model of the balance of power.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Little is Professor of International Politics at the University of Bristol. He is a former Chair and President of the British International Studies Association and the author of International Systems in World History (with Barry Buzan, 2000).

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521874882
• ISBN 13: 9780521874885
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328