* How are states made possible, constructed in theory and practice, and what alternative possibilities are given up by conferring legitimacy on states?
* How do 'reasons of state' appropriate and inform discourses of sovereignty, territoriality, historiography, diplomacy, security and community?
* How can we employ language to challenge the problematic logics of international relations and imagine alternative ways of being with and relating to others?
States of Political Discourse addresses these questions through a series of highly original and provocative essays that engage a range of political conditions and practices, exploring areas that are conventionally neglected. Topics include the language of normal and pathological states in Freudian psychoanalysis, the mythography of Europe, the political reification of the Himalayan region, the spirituality of cosmopolitanism, the status of the Knights of St John, and the literary exploration of diplomacy and security.

What does theory have to do with the concept - let alone the practice - of diplomacy? More than we might think, as Costas M. Constantinou demonstrates in this reconsideration of both the concept of diplomacy and the working of theory. Here, Constantinou focuses on the language that underwrites and directs theory and diplomacy, and shows that such a critical approach is actually a way of practising politics. Constantinou underscores the original intertextual association between theory and diplomacy by employing the ancient Greek term theoria. Theoria once referred to both philosophical thinking and a sacred embassy sent to consult the oracle. The use of the term in this book leads to a new view of theory and diplomacy, as discursively and historically conditioned concepts. Constantinou thus considers the structures of diplomacy and theory together with the notion of representation that is peculiar to Western metaphysical thought, Such an approach reveals the political stakes of exploring the linked identities of theory and diplomacy. In the process, Constantinou investigates the relationship between theory/diplomacy and etymological, mythological, theological and artistic texts. A deconstruction of diplomacy itself, his work bridges classical and contemporary philosophy, ancient and modern political practice, and, ultimately, politics and the arts in general.

The SAGE Handbook of Diplomacy provides a major thematic overview of Diplomacy and its study that is theoretically and historically informed and in sync with the current and future needs of diplomatic practice . Original contributions from a brilliant team of global experts are organised into four thematic sections: Section One: Diplomatic Concepts & Theories Section Two: Diplomatic Institutions Section Three: Diplomatic Relations Section Four: Types of Diplomatic Engagement

* How are states made possible, constructed in theory and practice, and what alternative possibilities are given up by conferring legitimacy on states?
* How do 'reasons of state' appropriate and inform discourses of sovereignty, territoriality, historiography, diplomacy, security and community?
* How can we employ language to challenge the problematic logics of international relations and imagine alternative ways of being with and relating to others?
States of Political Discourse addresses these questions through a series of highly original and provocative essays that engage a range of political conditions and practices, exploring areas that are conventionally neglected. Topics include the language of normal and pathological states in Freudian psychoanalysis, the mythography of Europe, the political reification of the Himalayan region, the spirituality of cosmopolitanism, the status of the Knights of St John, and the literary exploration of diplomacy and security.