International Relations and World Government
| Author | Richard H. Heindel |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625530000119 |
| Published date | 01 July 1955 |
| Date | 01 July 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
131
Book
Department
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
AND
WORLD
GOVERNMENT
QUINCY
WRIGHT.
The
Study
of
Interna-
tional
Relations.
Pp.
xii,
642.
New
York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts,
1955.
$6.75.
This
wide-ranging
volume
stems
from
an
advanced
course
which
Professor
Wright
has
given
at
Chicago
since
1947
to
assist
&dquo;integration
of
the
field
of
international
re-
lations&dquo;-&dquo;today
a
discipline
in
process
of
formation.&dquo;
How
far
this
provocative
treatise
will
itself
consolidate
that
integra-
tion
and
discipline
remains
to
be
seen.
But
there
is
no
doubt
it
will
be
a
key
reference
which
will
for
a
long
time
be
examined
by
serious
students
and
practitioners.
(Its
leisurely
length,
inevitable
in
an
effort
to
state
the
assumptions
and
major
conclu-
sions
of
each
of
the
sixteen
disciplines
con-
sidered
relevant
to
the
subject,
may
deter
some
persons
likely
to
benefit
from
these
mature
thoughts
of
an
experienced
scholar.)
The
book
is
divided
into
five
parts:
The
Meaning
of
International
Relations,
Objec-
tives
in
the
Study
of
International
Rela-
tions,
Practical
and
Theoretical
Analyses
of
International
Relations,
and
Toward
[my
italics]
a
Unified
Discipline
of
Inter-
national
Relations.
Some
of
the
flavor
is
conveyed
in
the
opening
sentences
to
Chapter
XXX,
&dquo;Con-
ceptions
of
International
Relations.&dquo;
&dquo;In-
ternational
relations,
as
a
discipline
con-
tributing
to
the
understanding,
prediction,
evaluation,
and
control
of
the
relations
among
states
and
of
the
conditions
of
the
world
community,
is
at
the
same
time
a
history,
a
science,
a
philosophy,
and
an
art.&dquo;
(Whether
the
journals
in
each
of
these
fields
will
review
this
book
is
another
matter.)
&dquo;The
effort
to
unify
the
study
of
international
relations
resembles
the
effort
to
unify
all
knowledge.&dquo;
For
the
most
general
synthesis,
Wright
favors
the
concept
of
the
world
&dquo;as
field&dquo;
though
he
believes
the
concept
of
the
world
as
plan,
as
spiritual
community,
as
equilibrium,
or as
organization,
has
each
been
useful
in
certain
situations
(pp.
531,
567).
He
also
adds
that
the
discipline
&dquo;may
prove
more
useful
for
research
than
for
either
general
education
or
practical
action&dquo;
(p.
582).
In
answer
to
the
contention
that
the
foreign
relations
of
each
state
is
unique,
he
explains
that
&dquo;the
thesis
is
accepted
in
this
book,
as
it
has
been
in
general
practice,
that
general
disciplines
exist
in
the
field
of
inter-
national
relations.
These
disciplines
[e.g.,
international
law,
international
economics,
and
so
forth]
have
proved
useful
to
states-
men
and
citizens
of
all
countries
and
their
synthesis
is
at
least
conceivable&dquo;
(p.
7,
8).
He
adds
that
useful
as
the
discipline
of
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