Theory and History in International Relations

A plea to return to a systematic study of history as a basis for theory. While the modest use of empiricism is always important, Puchala rejects the logical positivism of the so-called "scientific revolution" in the field in favour of a more complex, even intuitive, vision of global politics.

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Theory and History in International Relations is an eloquent plea to scholars of global politics to turn away from the "manufacture" of data and return to a systematic study of history as a basic for theory. While the modest use of empiricism will always be important, Puchala rejects the logical positivism of the so-called "scientific revolution" in the field in favor of a more complex, even intuitive, vision of global politics. He addresses the potential uses of history in studying some of the major debates of our time-the Cold War as a struggle between empires, the collision of civilizations, cultural encounters and colonies in the ancient world, and liberal approaches to the understanding of history and ethical contributions to the dialogue over theory.