The State Capital And The Structure Of The World System

This book occupies the same niche as Raymond Aron’s 1962 classic, Peace and War. 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 thus highly unstable. In this book, he 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. A major contribution to international relations theory and winner of the 2002 Georges Pompidou Prize, this book offers the necessary keys to decrypt the international system in the 21st century.

A John Hope Franklin Center Book.

World War II changed the face of the United States, catapulting the country out of economic depression, political isolation, and social conservatism. Ultimately, the war was a major formative factor in the creation of modern America. This unique, twelve-volume set provides comprehensive coverage of this transformation in its domestic policies, diplomatic relations, and military strategies, as well as the changing cultural and social arenas. The collection presents the history of the creation of a super power prior to, during, and after the war, analyzing all major phases of the U.S. involvement, making it a one-stop resource that will be essential for all libraries supporting a history curriculum. This volume is available on its own or as part of the twelve-volume set, "The American Experience in World War II." For a complete list of the volume titles in this set, see the listing for" The American Experience in World War II" [ISBN: 0-415-94028-1].

In this major, paradigm-shifting work, Kojin Karatani systematically re-reads Marx's version of world history, shifting the focus of critique from modes of production to modes of exchange. Karatani seeks to understand both Capital-Nation-State, the interlocking system that is the dominant form of modern global society, and the possibilities for superseding it. In The Structure of World History, he traces different modes of exchange, including the pooling of resources that characterizes nomadic tribes, the gift exchange systems developed after the adoption of fixed-settlement agriculture, the exchange of obedience for protection that arises with the emergence of the state, the commodity exchanges that characterize capitalism, and, finally, a future mode of exchange based on the return of gift exchange, albeit modified for the contemporary moment. He argues that this final stage—marking the overcoming of capital, nation, and state—is best understood in light of Kant's writings on eternal peace. The Structure of World History is in many ways the capstone of Karatani's brilliant career, yet it also signals new directions in his thought.

A vital overview of perspective on the history of the world system for all graduates and researchers in a variety of fields such as international political economy, world history and sociology.

This book, first published in 2000, provides an overview of theories of the state found in International Relations.