System and Process in International Politics

Every profession is occasionally inflicted with challenges that loom large....in economics these would include Keynes General Theory, Hicks’s Value and Capital, [and] Samuelson’s Foundations....In short, Kaplan’s book is a must. -- Charles Kindleberger, 'World Politics'

Kaplan’s book may, with some justification, be called the first professional book on International Relations. -- George Modelski, 'Australian Outlook'

[Kaplan’s book] points like all good theory, from the actual to the potential...and it may help to liberate us from bondage...either to a moralism which undercuts itself by denigrating the means necessary for maintaining values or to an opportunism which continually degrades the values of the political and social system in the guise of defense of the system. -- Kenneth Boulding, 'Conflict Resolution'

In the history of the subject, [Kaplan's book] may come to mark the epoch at which we got beyond prolegomena and began to develop a truly general theory. -- Arthur Lee Burns, 'Australian Journal of History and Politics'

Morton A Kaplan was Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Chicago. He has written or edited 30 books and over 100 articles and monographs. The Political Foundations of International Law, co-authored by N de B Katzenbach, one of the leading books in its field, applied Kaplan's theories to international law, and was translated into numerous languages. Kaplan also organised many conferences; these included 'The Fall of the Soviet Empire', which he chaired in 1985 and conferences in 1980 and 1981 on South Africa, designed to abolish apartheid.