This book brings together thirteen previously neglected essays by Nicholas Onuf, a celebrated International Relations theorist.

Chapters examine crucial issues which, according to Onuf, bedevil international theory as a project. Divided into three sections - Politics, Ethics and Semantics - the book addresses topics such as reconciling social construction with materiality, epochal change in the modern world, and questions on the properties of language.

Building on the work of giants, from Aristotle to Foucault, and drawing on the insight of diverse contemporary international theorists, including Johan Galtung, Morton Kaplan, Joseph Nye and James Rosenau, the book provides a powerful reminder that one must often look to the margins of the field to find new and stronger theory to address issues which have never been put to rest.