A History of International Political Theory

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 1-19

3. Universalism in Greek and Roman Antiquity and Christian Political Philosophy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

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   2. Greek and Roman Antiquity

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 23-49

   3. Christian Political Pragmatism and Ethical Universalism — Aurelius Augustine and Thomas Aquinas

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 50-71

4. Universalistic Thinking from Early Modern Times to Enlightenment

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 73-73

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   2. Universalistic Thinking in Christian Legal Philosophy — Bartolomé de las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 75-99

   3. Universalistic Frameworks in Early Modern Political Theory

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 100-138

5. The Emergence of Particularism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

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   2. Philosophies of ‘National Interest’

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 141-176

   3. Manufacturing Inter-National Cooperation — The English School

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 177-193

6. The Triumph of Particularism in Twentieth-Century International Relations Theory

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 195-195

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   2. Neo-Realism and the ‘Scientification’ of International Political Theory

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 197-209

   3. ‘Misreadings’ in IR: Reassessing Morgenthau, Ideology Critique, and the Reification Problem

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 210-225

7. Instead of A Conclusion — Towards Renewed Ontology(ies)

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 227-227

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   2. Universal, Universalistic — Universalized

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 229-237

   3. A Loss of Ethics, or the Reinvention of Universal Thinking in Global Politics?

      • Hartmut Behr

      Pages 238-246

8. Back Matter

   Pages 247-302

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Contemporary theory of international politics faces a twofold problem: the critical engagement with legacies of national power politics in connection to 20th Century International Relations and the regeneration of notions of humanity. This book contributes to this engagement by a genealogy of thoughts on war, peace, and ethics.

• geopolitics
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
• Immanuel Kant
• international relations
• Machiavelli
• Niccolò Machiavelli
• Peace
• political philosophy
• political theory
• political thought
• politics
• Thomas Hobbes

'Hartmut Behr's A History of International Political Theory: Ontologies of the International is a fascinating critical reconsideration of how generations of political thinkers have appraised the interplay between universal and particular interests among the relations of states in their understandings of "the world" from Western antiquity through the present-day. This richly nuanced and comprehensive analysis of the many epistemological and ontological complexities in disciplined thinking about "international" affairs will be essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how these complexities affect our moral reasoning and political decisions about war and peace, identity and difference, locality and globality as humanity deals with the strategic challenges of the twenty-first century.' - Timothy W. Luke, University Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA

'Taking the relationship between universalism and particularism as his starting point, Behr provides a panoramic historical vision of international political theory. In its attempt to reconstruct a philosophical genealogy of war and peace, and a renewed ethics, this original and remarkably wide-ranging book is as challenging as it is ambitious: it deserves widespread attention across International Relations and beyond.' - Michael C Williams, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada

• Newcastle University, UK

  Hartmut Behr

HARTMUT BEHR is Professor of International Politics at Newcastle University, UK. He is the author of 'Zuwanderungspolitik im Nationalstaat' (1998) and 'Entterritoriale Politik' (2004) and has published widely in international journals such as the European Journal of International Relations, Review of International Studies, Geopolitics, Journal of Politics, International Political Economy, Zeitschrift fuer Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB).

Policies and ethics