Description
Book SynopsisA reconsideration of the main figures of international political theory. It challenges conventional wisdom to reveal a neglected tradition of Progressive Realism contributing to debates about international policy-making and world government. It also considers how Progressive Realism informs the foreign policies of US President Barack Obama.
Trade Review"An excellent corrective to the simplistic realism so often taught to students of international relations at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."
Global Policy "This fusing of radical and Realist ideas remains the most intriguing development in international theory of the past decade."
International Affairs "Very persuasive ... undoubtedly a rewarding read."
Political Studies Review "This book offers fresh insight into a school of thought largely seen as unyielding, and offers renewed hope to the concepts of global reform and postnational governance."
Australian Journal of International Relations "A challenging account of how realism can influence existing international relations, which have undergone a major transformation in recent decades."
Choice "A really provocative read - very much a book in the best Polity tradition. This is an intellectual winner, and deserves to have an impact."
Michael Cox, London School of Economics
"The Realist logic of world government has been substantially enhanced by William Scheuerman in this thorough and well-written analysis. No one can now deny that the intellectual founders of contemporary Realism were far more willing to look beyond the interstate system than their Neorealist successors."
Campbell Craig, Aberystwyth University
"Scheuerman's brilliant presentation of classic Realists as proponents of a Progressive Realism radically transforms the way in which we can and should understand the Realist tradition, and links Progressive Realism to advocacy of a form of world government that is a welcome alternative to an anemic ‘governance without government'."
Peter Stirk, Durham University
Table of ContentsPreface vi
Acknowledgments x
Introduction: Meet the Progressive Realists 1
1 Why (Almost) Everything You Learned About Realism is Wrong 15
2 Realists Against the Nation State 39
3 Realist Global Reformism 67
4 What Cosmopolitans Can Learn from Progressive Realism 98
5 What Other Global Reformers Can Learn from Progressive Realism 126
6 Who’s Afraid of the World State? 149
Conclusion: A Niebuhrian President? 169
Notes 174
References 191
Index 209
