Imperialism and Internationalism in the Discipline of International Relations

Essays on the early disciplinary history of international relations.What were the guiding themes of the discipline of International Relations before World War II? The traditional disciplinary history has long viewed this time period as one guided by idealism and then challenged by realism. This book reconstructs in detail some of the formative episodes of the field's early development and arrives at the conclusion that, in actuality, the early years of International Relations were preoccupied not with idealism and realism but with the dual themes of imperialism and internationalism. Thus, the beginnings of the discipline have resonance with the recently revived discourse of empire and the global status and policies of the United States as the world's sole superpower.David Long is Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. He is the coeditor (with Lucian M. Ashworth) of New Perspectives on International Functionalism. Brian C. Schmidt is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Carleton University and author of The Political Discourse of Anarchy: A Disciplinary History of International Relations, also published by SUNY Press.