Opening with an interrogation of a number of classic realist works, the book rejects outright the goal of theorizing geopolitical systems in isolation from wider social structures. In a series of case studies-including Classical Greece, renaissance Italy and the Portuguese and Spanish Empires-Justin Rosenberg shows how the historical-materialist analysis of societies is a surer guide to understanding geopolitical systems than the technical theories of realist international Relations.

Justin Rosenberg is Reader in International Relations at the University of Sussex.