After Polarity in International Relataions

... longer seen as a legitimate instrument of foreign policy—except when used in self-defense. Power politics used to be the essence of international politics. States were expected to threaten war and go to war in pursuit of their national interests. War was, as von Clausewitz writes, only a “continuation of state policy by other means.” (1874). This changed, largely as a result of the two world wars. Forceful means have been largely delegitimized as instruments of foreign policy. What happened to ...