The Great Powers and the International System

Bear F. Braumoeller is a political scientist and an Associate Professor at Ohio State University. He has previously held faculty positions at Harvard University and the University of Illinois. His research lies at the intersection of international security, statistics and diplomatic history and in particular on translating the nuanced and contextual arguments of students of world politics into new statistical methods for political scientists. His work has been published in journals such as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, Political Analysis and International Studies Quarterly.

• 1. Introduction; 2. System, state, and citizen; 3. System, process, and evidence; 4. Systems in historic perspective; 5. Conclusions and implications.

"Braumoeller presents the first logically sound and empirically tested systemic theory of international relations. He challenges systemic theorists such as Waltz and Wendt and combines rigorous theory, historical analysis, and statistical testing in one coherent package. He engages a wide range of literatures and debates, from the agent–structure debate to computational systems theory to the historical legacy of the Congress of Vienna, all with keen intelligence and even wit." Andrew Kydd, University of Wisconsin