The Return of the Theorists: Dialogues with Great Thinkers in International Relations

by Richard Ned Lebow

Contemporary International Relations is as much a conversation between the living and the dead as it is among the living. Its debates are thoroughly rooted in and shaped by the thought of many bygone minds, both ancient and modern. With this in mind, The Return of the Theorists presents forty imagined dialogues with foundational theorists. They run the gamut from Homer and Confucius to Hedley Bull and Jean Bethke Elshtain, and span almost three millennia of human history, comprising representatives of a variety of cultures. The interviewers consist of more than forty international relations scholars and political theorists. They too cut across cultures, continents and almost three generations, and each is an expert on the work of the thinker invited. The Return of the Theorists will be of interest to anyone who has tried to enter the mind of bygone thinkers in political thought and International Relations.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Richard Ned Lebow FBA is an American political scientist best known for his work in international relations, political psychology, classics and philosophy of science. He is Professor of International Political Theory at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, Bye-Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, and James O. Freedman Presidential Professor Emeritus at Dartmouth College. Lebow also writes fiction. He has published a novel and collection of short stories and has recently finished a second novel.

Reviews

[Júlio Oliveira Junior · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting approach to IR theory, great to introduce beginners to the area, and to create a new relationship between scholar texts and narratives.

[Davis Florick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very good in providing a discourse in general international relations theory. Unfortunately, its conversational style fostered a situation in which some sections lost focus.