After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars [Kindle Edition]

G. John Ikenberry (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Majestic work that combines many familiar but seemingly unrelated themes into one elegant package of exceptional theoretical and empirical sweep. -- Journal of Politics

This pathbreaking work is one of the most important studies on international order to appear in many years. -- Choice

Product Description

The end of the Cold War was a "big bang" in world politics not unlike earlier historical moments after major wars, such as the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the end of the World Wars in 1919 and 1945. Here John Ikenberry asks the question, what do states that win these great conflicts do with their new found power and how do they use it to build order? In examining the major postwar settlements in modern history, he argues that powerful countries usually seek to build stable and cooperative relations, and often the best way to do this is to restrain the exercise of brute power by operating within multilateral institutions.

The author explains that military winners have a long-term interest in the stability of a new world order, since they are the dominant powers within it. Consequently, they limit their own power and coopt other states to create stable and lasting relations. The more institutionalized and self-limiting, the more durable the postwar order. Ikenberry maintains that a country's ability to restrain its power has shifted historically with the rise of democratic states. Blending comparative politics with international relations, and history with theory, After Victory will interest anyone concerned about the organization of world order, the role of institutions in facilitating cooperation, and the lessons of past postwar settlements for today. It also speaks to current debates in the policy community about the ability of the United States today to organize the post-Cold War order.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 4398 KB
• Print Length: 293 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 30, 2000)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001GIP3NY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,912 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Power Needs to Restrained Through Institutions?, March 18, 2003

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"abant" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars (Paperback)

This book deals with a central question. Why do leading states after major wars institutionalize and even strategically restrain their powers? Ikenberry's response is that 'states in this situation have sought hold onto power and make it last, and that this has led these states, paradoxically, to find ways to set limits on their power and make it acceptable to other states".(p. xi) To analyze this central puzzle, the author looks at the settlements of 1815, 1919, and 1945 as well as the end of the cold war. These times are important turning points in the history of world politics as major powers search for a new international order.

Moreover, this book has important implications for contemporary American foreign policy makers. "The United States has entered the new century as the world's lone superpower. Whether that extraordinary power can be put to good use in creating a lasting and legitimate international order will in no small measure determined by how American officials use and operate within international institutions. It might appear that there are few constraints or penalties for the United States to exercise its power unilaterally and at its own discretion. But the theory and historical experiences in these chapters suggest otherwise. The most enduringly powerful states are those that work with and through institutions". (p.20)

Overall, After Victory is a very good contribution to diplomatic history, international relations theory as well as to American foreign policy.