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Conflict, War & Revolution: the importance of violence in international politics

In his new book, Paul Kelly considers the lessons about political violence, war and revolution to be learned from ten major thinkers over centuries and draws some lessons for our times.
In his new book, Paul Kelly considers the lessons about political violence, war and revolution to be learned from ten major thinkers over centuries and draws some lessons for our times.
Wednesday 9 February 2022 | 1 hour 28 minutes 12 seconds
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In his new book Paul Kelly considers the lessons about political violence, war and revolution to be learned from ten major thinkers over centuries – Thucydides, St Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Clausewitz, Lenin, Mao, Schmitt - and draws some lessons for our times. Join us as a panel of speaker discuss the theme of this new publication from LSE Press.

Modern international relations apparently shows a rapid swing back towards ‘great power’ politics and the use of force and violence in inter-state relations, dashing the millennial hopes of an irreversible shift towards a more ethically based international regime. Yet a whole succession of major thinkers have espoused versions of a ‘realist’ strand urging recognition of the inevitable presence of violence in international affairs.

You can order the book, Conflict, War & Revolution: the importance of violence in international politics, (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.