'Cause is the central concept of any science, including human sciences. Yet, most IR scholars seem to assume that this is not the case, which explains in part the appalling state of the discipline. To paraphrase Kant, it is time to awaken IR scholars from their 'dogmatic slumber' by shifting the field of background discourse, as Kurki attempts to do here. Her brilliant book will no doubt make a huge contribution to the revival of cumulative research in world politics, peace and conflict studies and related fields.' Heikki Patomäki, University of Helsinki