In Fathers of International Thought, renowned foreign affairs
scholar Kenneth W. Thompson returns to the writings of sixteen
thinkers in order better to understand the issues and problems that
recurrently beset global politics. A companion volume to Masters of
International Thought, in which Thompson analysed the thinking of
eighteen leading twentieth-century political theorists, Fathers of
International Thought traces the ideas of earlier philosophers,
theologians, and legal and political theorists who provided the
foundations for the present century's master thinkers. Thompson
begins by discussing the relevance of classical political
philosophy to the field of modern international relations theory.
He then presents lucid essays on sixteen of the most brilliant
minds from Plato through the nineteenth century, focusing on the
importance of their thought in contemporary international affairs.
Besides Plato, the classical thinkers, whom Thompson refers to as
the fathers, include Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Niccolo
Machiavelli, Grotius, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
Montesquieu, Edmund Burke, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel, and Karl Marx. According to Thompson, the interrelatedness
of earlier and recent thought is undeniable for such concepts as
authority, justice, community, regimes, and power. He shows how the
ideas of the fathers have application to the current international
scene, as with events in Eastern Europe and the Persian Gulf area,
and political upheaval on the African continent. The lesson for
policy makers, students of politics and international relations,
and, indeed, all citizens is that a comprehensive philosophical
approach to world politics can lead to the rediscovery of enduring
political principles and our place in history. By considering the
insights of earlier thinkers, decision makers may come to recognise
most present-day problems as perennial issues, however changing the
context. Understanding the classics may help them avoid
unsuccessful patterns in foreign policy. An introductory survey of
early political philosophers and their relevance to our times is
sorely needed by students and practitioners of international
politics. Fathers of International Thought, by a man Foreign
Affairs described as ""one of the best teachers still active from
the postwar generation of scholars that developed the discipline of
international relations,"" will be of lasting value in meeting that
need.
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