System and Process in International Politics

[Kaplan's book] points like all good theory, from the actual to the potential... and it may help to liberate us from bondage... either to a moralism which undercuts itself by denigrating the means necessary for maintaining values or to an opportunism which continually degrades the values of the political and social system in the guise of defense of the system. -- Kenneth E. Boulding Kaplan's book may, with some justification, be called the first professional book on International Relations. * Australian Outlook * Every profession is occasionally inflicted with challenges that loom large.... in economics these would include Keynes' General Theory, Hicks's Value and Capital, [and] Samuelson's Foundations.... In short, Kaplan's book is a must. * World Politics * In the history of the subject, [Kaplan's book] may come to mark the epoch at which we got beyond prolegomena and began to develop a truly general theory. * Australian Journal of Politics & History *

Morton A. Kaplan is Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Chicago. He has written or edited 30 books and over 100 articles and monographs. The Political Foundations of International Law, co-authored by Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach, one of the leading books in its field, applied Kaplan's theories to international law, and was translated into numerous languages. Kaplan also organised many conferences; these included `The Fall of the Soviet Empire,' which he chaired in 1985 and conferences in 1980 and 1981 on South Africa, designed to abolish apartheid.

contents New introduction by the author Foreword by William T. R. Fox Preface PART ONE: ON SYSTEMS OF ACTION Chapter one: The analysis of systems of action Chapter two: The international system Chapter three: The international actors PART TWO: ON PROCESSES Chapter four: The regulatory process Chapter five: The integrative and the disintegrative processes Chapter six: Processes and the international system PART THREE: ON VALUES Chapter seven: The realm of values Chapter eight: The national interest and other interests PART FOUR: ON STRATEGY Chapter nine: The theory of games Chapter ten: Some problems in game theory Chapter eleven: Strategy and statecraft CONCLUSION: Unified theory APPENDICES Appendix one: The mechanisms of regulation Appendix two: The realm of values Index