This book presents essays in theory and practice of international politics. Assessing the development of the discipline of international relations, it offers a summary of the field's significant findings and a critical discussion of representative traditions of realism and liberalism.

Part One: Theories and Theorists 1. An American Social Science: International Relations 2. Rousseau on War and Peace 3. Raymond Aron and the Theory of International Relations 4. Hans Morgenthau: The Limits and Influence of "Realism'' Part Two: Order and Violence 5. Is There an International Order? 6. The Future of the International Political System: A Sketch 7. International Systems and International Law 8. The Problem of Intervention 9. Nuclear Worries: France and the United States Part Three: Actors and Interactions 10. On the Origins of the Cold War 11. Grasping the Bear: Patterns and Puzzles of Soviet International Behavior 12. Cries and Whimpers: Thoughts on West European-American Relations in the 1980s 13. Domestic Politics and Interdependence Part Four: Sermons and Suggestions 14. International Organization and the International System 15. Taming the Eagle: U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security 16. Beyond Terror? 17. Reaching for the Most Difficult: Human Rights as a Foreign Policy Goal 18. Liberalism and International Affairs 19. On the Political Psychology of Peace and War: A Critique and an Agenda Part Five: Conclusion 20. The Sound and the Fury: The Social Scientist Versus War in History