International relations and its discontents

In this review of the health and prospects of the contemporary study of international relations, the author identifies the criteria by which the discipline may justify its existence and distinguishes these from invalid standard, notable a misconceived appeal to 'scientific' procedure and goals or a demand for immediate relevance. he asserts the centrality both of theoretical work and of engagement with historical and contemporary actuality, and, with Dahrendorf, the inevitability and desirability of a tension between reflection and practice. he then examines the response of the discipline to two major challenges of recent years - the collapse of communism and the process of 'globalization' - and notes ways in which it may constructively develop both in fulfilling the criteria of academic adequacy and in responding to the challenges of the contemporary world.