Paradoxes of modernity in international political theory

“This book is based on the principle according to which the formation of the current global Grand Système was the result of cleavages that, in their critical, enmeshed moments, always offered a rel-atively wide variety of alternatives. These alternatives have, however, been systematically obliterated by reductive thought that tends to simplify reality. In other words it looks at immediate feasibility in the management of the social system while rejecting countless possibilities and variables by suppress-ing community and society issues that are richer in the different cultures. This simplification has also been occurring in the theoretic field.” (From the Foreword)