From Power Politics to Conflict Resolution surveys the development of the ideas of John W. Burton, an Australian civil servant and diplomat who became a prolific author in the fields of International Relations and Conflict Theory. This work, beginning with an introduction to his life and associations, assesses the development of Burton's ideas, at once critical of much of the conventional wisdom of International Relations as well as seeking to be innovative, helping us to understand the issues of peace and conflict in a changing world.

Peace research first emerged as an explicit academic area of study in the 1950s. Pioneers of peace research included Wright, Richardson and Lenz, and this book examines their contribution and that of the 'frontiersmen' who developed the study further, establishing peace research in its own right. Assessing the evolution, status and significance of peace research after fifty years, this novel and comprehensive book is relevant not only to students of peace research, but also to the developing debates within international relations and security studies. This is where there are real problems associated with the understanding of new problems and issues by reference to traditional concepts and categories. The book will attract a broad market in the fields of international relations, politics and social theory, as well as scholars in peace studies.

From Power Politics to Conflict Resolution surveys the development of the ideas of John W. Burton, an Australian civil servant and diplomat who became a prolific author in the fields of International Relations and Conflict Theory. This work, beginning with an introduction to his life and associations, assesses the development of Burton's ideas, at once critical of much of the conventional wisdom of International Relations as well as seeking to be innovative, helping us to understand the issues of peace and conflict in a changing world. A central theme is the development of a framework of ideas which Burton came to call provention .