Alena Drieschova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. She is the co-editor of Conceptualizing International Practices (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and her research has been published in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and Global Environmental Change.

'In this historical tour de force, Drieschova details the four curial roles 'representants' play in the formation of international order. She elegantly connects new materialism to International Relations, locating it at the core of the discipline's empirical and theoretical concerns.' Anna Leander, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Geneva Graduate Institute

• Acknowledgements; Part I: 1. Introduction; 2. Stability and change of international orders; Part II: Introduction: from universal monarchy to territorial balance of power; 3. Monarchia universalis: from ordering principle to threat of order; 4. From international hierarchy to balance of power; 5. Territory as a power resource; Part III: 6. Liberal governance and its contestation in the European Union; 7. Conclusion; Field notes; Interviews; References; Index.

Alena Drieschova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. She is the co-editor of Conceptualizing International Practices (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and her research has been published in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and Global Environmental Change.

'In this historical tour de force, Drieschova details the four curial roles 'representants' play in the formation of international order. She elegantly connects new materialism to International Relations, locating it at the core of the discipline's empirical and theoretical concerns.' Anna Leander, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Geneva Graduate Institute

• Acknowledgements; Part I: 1. Introduction; 2. Stability and change of international orders; Part II: Introduction: from universal monarchy to territorial balance of power; 3. Monarchia universalis: from ordering principle to threat of order; 4. From international hierarchy to balance of power; 5. Territory as a power resource; Part III: 6. Liberal governance and its contestation in the European Union; 7. Conclusion; Field notes; Interviews; References; Index.

Alena Drieschova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. She is the co-editor of Conceptualizing International Practices (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and her research has been published in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and Global Environmental Change.

'In this historical tour de force, Drieschova details the four curial roles 'representants' play in the formation of international order. She elegantly connects new materialism to International Relations, locating it at the core of the discipline's empirical and theoretical concerns.' Anna Leander, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Geneva Graduate Institute

• Acknowledgements; Part I: 1. Introduction; 2. Stability and change of international orders; Part II: Introduction: from universal monarchy to territorial balance of power; 3. Monarchia universalis: from ordering principle to threat of order; 4. From international hierarchy to balance of power; 5. Territory as a power resource; Part III: 6. Liberal governance and its contestation in the European Union; 7. Conclusion; Field notes; Interviews; References; Index.