The English School of International Relations has traditionally maintained that international society cannot accommodate hierarchical relationships between states. This book employs a unique theoretical and conceptual approach challenging this view and arguing that hierarchies are formed on Western states' need to manage globalised risks.

1. Introduction 2. The Hierarchical Society 3. Risk and International Society 4. The Management of Risk 5. Managing Risks in Europe's Periphery: The European Neighbourhood Policy 6. Australia and the Management of Risk in the South Pacific 7. Preventing Risks and Changing Regimes: The 2003 Invasion of Iraq 8. Conclusion

William Clapton is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He has published on risk and hierarchy in International Politics and International Relations.