Restraining Power

David C. Hendrickson is emeritus professor of Political Science at Colorado College and the author of nine books, most recently Republic in Peril: American Empire and the Liberal Tradition. A distinguished scholar and commentator on international relations and US foreign policy, he has written for Foreign Affairs, the National Interest, the American Conservative and the Quincy Institute's Responsible Statecraft. He served as President of the John Quincy Adams Society in 2022-23.

David Hendrickson writes with verve, insight, and wisdom in what is a must-read book for our perplexing times. I recommend it with great enthusiasm to general readers and specialists alike.

• PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTSA NOTE ON THE BIBLIOGRAPHYI. The War Problem1. The Duty of Peace2. The Goals of States3. Cold Monsters4. A Pattern in MiniatureII.Facts and Values5. Three Ways of Knowing6. Parsimony and Prediction as False Gods7. A Different MapIII. Rival Approaches 8. The American Science of International Politics9. International Society and the English SchoolIV.The Law of Nature on a New Foundation10. Grotius Breaks the Ice11. The Significance of Hobbes12. Samuel Pufendorf is the Man13. Vattel: The Law of Nature Applied to Nations14. The Rise and Fall of Legal Positivism15. The UN Charter and the Law of Nature16. The Preeminent Theory of International RelationsV.Classical Realism and Classical Idealism17. Reason of State18. Diplomacy and Duplicity19. Thucydides and the War of the Peloponnese20. Hard and Soft Realism21. The Classical IdealistsVI.The American Realists22. The Enigma of Hans J. Morgenthau23. The Realists and US Foreign Policy24. The Clash of CivilizationsVII.Four Doctrines in Liberalism25. Two Directions for the Law of Nature26. The Rise of the Market 27. Natural Right and the African Slave Trade28. Institutional Liberalism and the American Founding29. The Use and Abuse of Democratic Peace Theory30. A Balance SheetVIII.Contemporary IR Theory and the Washington Policy Debate31. Lebow and the Ancients32. Republican Security Theory33. Nonzerosumness and Restraint34. Hegemonic Discourses35. States and Nations36. Mugged by Reality: IR Theory and American Militarism37. Hawks and DovesIX.Varieties of Revolutionism 38. Neoconservatism: The United States as a Revolutionary Power39. Radical Enlightenment40. Rival Theories of Intervention41. Marxism and the Class Struggle 42. Hard and Soft Revolutionism43. Edmund Burke and the Constitutional TraditionX.The Law of Nature in the 21st Century44. What the Law of Nature Is45. The United States and the Law of Nature46. In Defense of Pluralism47. Cognitive Empathy48. Lasting RelevanceSELECT BIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX