Plural International Relations in a Divided World

Stephen Chan OBE is Professor of World Politics at SOAS University of London. A former international civil servant, he has recently held the inaugural Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Chair of Academic Excellence at Bir Zeit University, and the George Soros Chair of Public Policy at the Central European University.

"This book is vintage Chan. In characteristically brisk and accessible style, it offers, among many things, a new way of thinking about difference at play in international relations and in International Relations. I especially like Chan's consideration of a question that concerns many: is the Daesh/ISIS difference a threat to the state system as we understand it? (Hint: probably not.)"Christine Sylvester, University of Connecticut and Gothenburg University, Sweden (affiliate)"Stephen Chan is a rare voice of originality in the study of international relations. He also writes well, a relatively unusual trait in a subject befogged by jargon. Chan cuts through the thickets to make a clear and impassioned plea for more openness and intellectual honesty in the subject. In the process he tells a rattling good yarn, with marvelous character portraits, momentous events and synthesis of very difficult ideas, all in clear language. I can only applaud him for it."Andrew Williams, University of St. Andrews, UK

• PrefacePart IChapter One WESTPHALIA AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THEORYChapter Two THE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN: NEW WORLD VISIONS EMERGEChapter Three REGIONAL SEARCHES FOR THOUGHTFUL VALUEChapter Four VIOLENCE, MEMORIES OF VIOLENCE, AND EFFORTS AT SOLIDARITY AND UNIONPart IIChapter Five THE REVENGE OF THE POST-SECULARChapter Six NEW WARS, NEW STATES, AND NEW STATES OF OLD THOUGHTChapter Seven WILL THE FOUNDATIONS STAND?Part IIIChapter Eight THE END OF UNIVERSALISM: TOWARDS A SETTLEMENT OF WORLDLY CONDITIONALITY