For the past quarter century, John Gerard Ruggie has made fundamental contributions to international relations theorizing. His work has helped establish what is now described as the 'constructivist' approach to this field.
Ruggie has also sought to translate his theoretical insights into policy analysis and prescriptions. This volume of essays, with a new introduction and extensive connective sections, brings together his most influential theoretical ideas and their application to critical policy questions concerning the post-Cold War international order.
The book is divided into three sections -
1. International Organization. How the 'new Institutionalism' differs from the old. Introducing the concepts of regimes, epistemic communities, and multilateralism. Epistemological critiques of more conventional approaches.
2. The System of States. Explorations of political structure, social time, and territorial space in the world polity. The role of institutions in change of the system in states.
3. Making History. America and the issue of 'agency' in the post-cold was era. NATO and the future transatlantic security community. The United Nations and the collective use of force.