Lexington Books
Pages: 172
•
Trim: 6½ x 9⅜
978-1-4985-2309-7 • Hardback • November 2016 • $117.00 • (£90.00)
978-1-4985-2311-0 • Paperback • September 2018 • $46.99 • (£36.00)
978-1-4985-2310-3 • eBook • November 2016 • $44.50 • (£35.00)
Aaron M. Zack teaches political science at Baruch College, CUNY.
Chapter 1: Introduction and Methodology
Chapter 2: Dehio’s Theory: The Wars for Hegemony in Europe and Rise of the World Powers
Chapter 3: Hegemonic War and the Hellenic State System
Chapter 4: The Hellenistic State System and Roman Hegemony
Chapter 5: Hegemony and Culture: The Italian Renaissance State System and the Roman Empire
Chapter 6: Dehio and German Historiography: Interpreting the German Bid for Supremacy
Chapter 7: The European System and the Western Hemisphere: The Dynamics of Hegemony and Plurality
Chapter 8: Dehio’s Theory and Contemporary American Grand Strategy
Chapter 9: Hegemonic War, American Grand Strategy, and the Contemporary Middle Eastern State System
Chapter 10: Hegemonic War, American Grand Strategy, and the Contemporary East Asian State System
Conclusion: The Future of Global Order: Hegemonic Conflict or Concert of Great Powers
Afterword: Hegemony, Nihilism, and Decline
Without the Soviet Union, the Cold War’s bipolar formula no longer can reliably serve to define and structure a global state system. Aaron M. Zack is to be congratulated for the instinct that has led him to turn for inspiration to the German historian, Ludwig Dehio. Zack shows himself fully conscious of the richness and complexity of Dehio’s writing. The broad sweep of Dehio’s historical knowledge and the boldness of his speculation summon the imagination of today’s theorists to rise to the challenges of a world without stable hegemonies. We can hope that Zack’s insights are understood and appreciated.
— David P. Calleo, Johns Hopkins University
Aaron M. Zack’s impressive study takes us through a very long historical journey of international politics via the lens of an underappreciated yet provocative German thinker, Ludwig Dehio. Through Dehio’s fascinating theories of balance of power and hegemonic conflict, Zack brings to light important patterns in the evolution of state systems. From his historical laboratory, Zack moves on to tracing insights from these lessons of the past to glean important insights into present day American foreign policy and grand strategy. Like Dehio himself, Zack’s work occupies a very impressive intersection between theory and history which deserves both attention and great acclaim.
— Giulio Gallarotti, Wesleyan University