The Moral Purpose of the State: Culture, Social Identity, and Institutional Rationality in International Relations

by Christian Reus-Smit

Book Overview

This book seeks to explain why different systems of sovereign states have built different types of fundamental institutions to govern interstate relations. Why, for example, did the ancient Greeks operate a successful system of third-party arbitration, while international society today rests on a combination of international law and multilateral diplomacy? Why did the city-states of Renaissance Italy develop a system of oratorical diplomacy, while...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691144354
• ISBN13: 9780691144351
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 9.2"