Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations

847 Pages·2003·70.06 MB·English

by  Raymond Aron

PEACE
&WAR
Books by Raymond Aron Published by Transaction
• In Defense of Decadent Europe
• Main Currents in Sociological Thought
Volume 1: Montesquieu, Comte, Marx, Tocqueville,
and the Sociologists and the Revolution of 1848
• Main Currents in Sociological Thought
Volume 2: Durkheim, Pareto, Weber
• The Opium of the Intellectuals
• Peace & War: A Theory of International Relations
• Politics and History
• Thinking Politically: A Liberal in the Age of Ideology
PEACE
&WAR
A Theory of
International
Relations
Raymond Aron
With a new introduction by
Daniel J. Mahoney and Brian C. Anderson
§3 Routledge
Taylor &. Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Oiginally published in 1966 by Doubleday & Company, Inc
Published 2003 by Transaction Publishers
Published 2017 by Routledge
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and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2003048420
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aron, Raymond, 1905-
[Paix et guerre entre les nations. English]
Peace and war : a theory of international relations / Raymond Aron ; with
a new introduction by Daniel J. Mahoney & Brian C. Anderson.
p. cm.
Previously published as: Garden City, N.Y : Doubleday, 1966. [1st ed.]
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7658-0504-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. International relations. I. Title.
JZ1305.A7613 2003
327’.1’01—dc21 2003048420
ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-0504-1 (pbk)
International law is based by nature upon this principle: that the various
nations ought to do, in peace, the most good to each other, and, in war, the
least harm possible, without detriment to their genuine interests.
—Montesquieu, L'Esprit des lots, I, 3

In 1954, in a note on an article entitled “On the Analysis of Diplomatic
Constellations” published in the Revue frangaise de science politique, I an­
nounced a Sociology of International Relations. For several years I had been
contemplating the book that I now offer. During that time the theme broad­
ened, and the distinctions of theory, sociology, and praxiology came to seem
to me fundamental in order to grasp, on the different levels of conceptual­
ization, the intelligible texture of a social universe. Ultimately, although this
book deals chiefly with the world today, its deepest aim is not linked to the
present. My goal is to comprehend the implicit logic of relations among po­
litically organized collectivities. This effort of comprehension culminates in
the question that will determine the future of the human race.
Will the nations henceforth capable of annihilating, without even disarm­
ing, each other, discover the meaning of a truly peaceful coexistence? I do
not claim to give an answer which only history can afford. But perhaps this
book will help readers to reflect on the problem in all its complexity.1
Venanson, July 1959
Paris, October 1961
11 should like to take this occasion to thank those who have helped me to bring this
work to its conclusion: Harvard University, in appointing me Ford Research Professor
of Government for a semester of 1960-61, afforded me several months of the student's
scholarly leisure; Suzanne Moussouris who indefatigably transcribed and retranscribed
manuscripts almost illegible to anyone but herself; Isabelle Nicol who edited the text;
Pierre Hassner who translated the English citations; and Stanley Hoffman and Pierre
Bourdieu who suggested important corrections.

CONTENTS
Introduction to the Transaction Edition xi
Preface to the American Edition xxi
Introduction The Conceptual Levels of Comprehension 1
PART ONE
THEORY
Concepts and Systems
1
Chapter Strategy and Diplomacy, or On the Unity of Foreign
Policy 21
11
Chapter Power and Force, or On the Means of Foreign Policy 47
111
Chapter Power, Glory and Idea, or On the Goals of Foreign
Policy 71
Chapter IV On International Systems 94
Chapter V On Multipolar Systems and Bipolar Systems 125
Chapter VI Dialectics of Peace and War 150
PART TWO
SOCIOLOGY
Determinants and Constants
Introduction 177
Chapter VII On Space 181
Chapter VIII On Number 210
Chapter IX On Resources 243
Chapter X Nations and Regimes 279
Chapter XI In Search of a Pattern of Change 3°7
Chapter Xll The Roots of War as an Institution 339
PART THREE
HISTORY
The Global System in the Thermonuclear Age
Introduction 369
7
Chapter XIII Le monde fini or The Heterogeneity of the
Global System 373
Chapter XIV On the Strategy of Deterrence 4°4
Chapter XV Les grands Freres, or Diplomacy within the Blocs 441
Chapter XVI Stalemate in Europe, or Diplomacy between the
Blocs 476
Chapter XVII Persuasion and Subversion, or The Blocs and the
Non-Aligned Nations 506
Chapter XVIII The Enemy Partners 536