The Return of the State of War

This book - the author's own translation of ‘Retour de l'etat deguerre’ (2006) – presents a clear-sighted theoretical account of the 2003 Gulf War. The author combines rationalist and constructivist approaches in order to explain foreign-policy decision making. His historical overview of post-Westphalian developments in international affairs in the book's first part is worth almost as much as his analysis of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Indeed, the book works well as a textbook introduction to theoretical perspectives on post-Westphalian history and the employment of armed force… this comes across as a balanced treatment from which there is much to learn. -- Henrik Syse, 'Journal of Peace Research'

Dario Battistella is a Professor of Political Science and International Relations. He has been Visiting Professor at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, the Université Laval in Québec, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of a handbook of international relations theory and a dictionary of international relations concepts, both in French. (Théories des relations internationales: http://www.pressesdesciencespo.dr/livre/?GCOI=27246100415280)