World Politics: Progress and its LimitsISBN: 978-0-7456-2589-8
Hardcover
184 pages
March 2001, Polity
Other Available Formats: Paperback
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This book examines why it is so difficult to improve standards of
international behaviour and explores the pre-conditions for any
realistic attempt to do so. It discusses three major issues that
have dominated international debate over the past decade: the
tension between sovereignty and national self-determination; the
problems associated with the attempt to spread democracy around the
world; and the desirability of external intervention in ethnic and
religious conflicts.
Rejecting both the unfounded optimism of the early 1990s and the
cynical pessimism of more recent years, Professor Mayall points to
the strong elements of continuity in international life. He
concludes that international society is unlikely to be successfully
reformed if governments continue to will progressive ends whilst
evading responsibility for their actions.