Powers and Principles - by Michael Schiffer & David Shorr (Hardcover)

About the Book

This collection examines some of the classic questions of international relations-the role of interests, ideals, power balances, and norms in determining the actions of nations-though the lens of a set of powerful countries. Given the writers' expertise in these regions of the...

Book Synopsis

This collection examines some of the classic questions of international relations-the role of interests, ideals, power balances, and norms in determining the actions of nations-though the lens of a set of powerful countries. Given the writers' expertise in these regions of the world, Powers and Principles also offers insight into the foreign policies of the nations that will shape the twenty-first century world.

Review Quotes

If the world of the 21st century is to be governed, and its daunting challenges addressed, the great powers will need to step forward to provide collective leadership. At the same time, this modern concert of powers must also be expanded to including rising states and new global stakeholders. Powers and Principles provides one of the best glimpses of these major players and their agendas. It offers an illuminating survey of the competing visions of global order and the terms upon which constructive order building might be based.

The distinct lack of agreement among major powers today contradicts the idea of an international community bound by a common moral code. International norms nonetheless exert a degree of moral and political force as powerful nations vie for status and influence. Powers and Principles uses a novel and illuminating approach to examine the role of benevolent impulses in international affairs.

About the Author

Michael Schiffer was, from 2006-2009, a program officer in policy analysis and dialogue at the Stanley Foundation and a fellow at the Center for Asia and Pacific Studies at the University of Iowa.
David Shorr is a program officer at the Stanley Foundation. His last co-edited volume, a collection of bipartisan essays, was Bridging the Foreign Policy Divide.