Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village - Hardcover

Deudney, Daniel H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691119015 ISBN 13: 9780691119014

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2006

Synopsis

Realism, the dominant theory of international relations, particularly regarding security, seems compelling in part because of its claim to embody so much of Western political thought from the ancient Greeks to the present. Its main challenger, liberalism, looks to Kant and nineteenth-century economists. Despite their many insights, neither realism nor liberalism gives us adequate tools to grapple with security globalization, the liberal ascent, and the American role in their development. In reality, both realism and liberalism and their main insights were largely invented by republicans writing about republics.


The main ideas of realism and liberalism are but fragments of republican security theory, whose primary claim is that security entails the simultaneous avoidance of the extremes of anarchy and hierarchy, and that the size of the space within which this is necessary has expanded due to technological change.


In Daniel Deudney's reading, there is one main security tradition and its fragmentary descendants. This theory began in classical antiquity, and its pivotal early modern and Enlightenment culmination was the founding of the United States. Moving into the industrial and nuclear eras, this line of thinking becomes the basis for the claim that mutually restraining world government is now necessary for security and that political liberty cannot survive without new types of global unions.


Unique in scope, depth, and timeliness, Bounding Power offers an international political theory for our fractious and perilous global village.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel H. Deudney is Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He has written extensively on international political theory and contemporary global issues.

From the Back Cover

"Bounding Power has the potential to revolutionize international political thought. Such an exciting book comes along once in a blue moon."--David A. Welch, University of Toronto, author ofPainful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change and Justice and the Genesis of War

"Daniel Deudney is one of the most creative thinkers in contemporary political science. In this captivating and wide-ranging book, he retrieves classical ideas of republican security theory to critique realist and liberal interpretations of present-day globalization and the ascent of liberal democracy. He then offers novel republican solutions for future world order that square the circle of avoiding nuclear violence while preserving individual freedom."--Henry Nau, George Washington University

"To say that Bounding Power is a significant contribution to the field is an understatement. Indeed, it is a significant contribution to several fields: political theory, U.S. history, constitutional law, ethics, and, of course, international relations. Once it is published, no one will be able to talk about international relations theory without taking the republican legacy into account. This will be the case for years to come."--Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University, author ofThe Republican Legacy in International Thought

From the Inside Flap

"Bounding Power has the potential to revolutionize international political thought. Such an exciting book comes along once in a blue moon."--David A. Welch, University of Toronto, author of Painful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change and Justice and the Genesis of War

"Daniel Deudney is one of the most creative thinkers in contemporary political science. In this captivating and wide-ranging book, he retrieves classical ideas of republican security theory to critique realist and liberal interpretations of present-day globalization and the ascent of liberal democracy. He then offers novel republican solutions for future world order that square the circle of avoiding nuclear violence while preserving individual freedom."--Henry Nau, George Washington University

"To say that Bounding Power is a significant contribution to the field is an understatement. Indeed, it is a significant contribution to several fields: political theory, U.S. history, constitutional law, ethics, and, of course, international relations. Once it is published, no one will be able to talk about international relations theory without taking the republican legacy into account. This will be the case for years to come."--Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University, author of The Republican Legacy in International Thought

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691119015
• ISBN 13: 9780691119014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416