Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era

T.V. Paul

Sep 2018 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Paul Heitsch

About this audiobook

The intensified globalization that ensued after the end of the Cold War has resulted in an unprecedented level of interconnectedness between the economies of all rising and established powers. Economic interdependence makes today's world a much more complex place than when balance of power theory was initially developed nearly three hundred years ago; traditional balance of power politics does not fully capture great power behavior in the modern era. International relations literature has overlooked the fact that great powers have been using institutions to soft balance each other's power and aggressive behavior for a long time, alongside hard balancing instruments of arms and formal alliances. Restraining Great Powers places the evolution of balancing behavior in historical perspective. T.V. Paul addresses the role of institutions, limited ententes, and economic sanctions in balancing power or balancing against threat, going beyond the contemporary era and looking back at European history. Rather than relying on a narrow conception of balancing based on military instruments alone, Paul's important new book examines how subtler and more complex forms of balancing can help states achieve their goals, moving the debate on balance of power in an exciting new direction.

About the author

T.V. Paul is a leading international relations scholar and the James McGill Professor of International Relations at McGill University. He has authored or edited eighteen books, including The Tradition of Non-use of Nuclear Weapons, which was selected for inclusion in the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Exhibition honoring President Barack Obama.

Paul Heitsch has been narrating audiobooks since 2011, after having worked as a pianist, composer, recording engineer, producer, and sound designer for many years. His work is often cited for the authenticity he brings to the narrative and characters he portrays, as well as his versatility, and clear, smooth delivery.