3 Review(s)

This book occupies the same niche as Raymond Aron's 1962 classic, Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations. While Aron wrote during the Cold War, Thierry de Montbrial writes about the post-Soviet international system, a system that is multipolar, ideologically heterogeneous, and therefore highly unstable. In this book, de Montbrial lays the foundation for a praxeology, or a "science of action," to facilitate a better understanding of the dynamics of international problems and a more systematic approach to policy making. He develops a model to analyze different types of international problems that arise from interactions between different "active units," which he then applies to a range of current and historical problems. A major contribution to international relations theory and winner of the 2002 Georges Pompidou Prize in its original French edition, this book offers the necessary keys to decrypt the international system in the twenty-first century. It has been published internationally in seven languages.