The logic of anarchy: Neorealism to structural realism (New directions in world politics)

You want to understand the theory of international politics? Well, then, first try Kenneth Waltz's "Theory of International Politics", then go to Robert Keohane's "Neorealism and its Critics", then read David Baldwin's "Neorealism and Neoliberalism", and finally peruse this work. "The Logic of Anarchy" anatomises every part of Waltz's "T of P", criticises it wholly, and improves it to the extent to which I doubt there will be any further refinement. It is the most important and best response to Waltz's work! Preface 1. Overview Section I Rethinking System and Structure 2. Waltz, His Critics, and the Prospects for a Structural Realism 3. System, Structure, and Units 4. Beyond Neorealism: Interaction Capacity Section II Rethinking System Continuity and Transformation 5. Structural Realism and World History 6. Structural Realism and the Agent-Structure Debate 7. Agency and Competing Theories of the State 8. The Structure and Logic of Anarchy 9. Continuity and Transformation in the International System Section III Rethinking the Methodology of Realism 10. Analogy, Theory and Testing 11. Analogy or Metaphor? 12. Vertical Sectors and Disaggregated Power Summary and Conclusions References

— James Der Derian, University of Massachusetts

James Der Derian

A superb piece of architecture. It strips Waltz's classic down to struts and studs to reconstruct a richer, more complex theory of neorealism.