Gilpin: War and Change in World Politics

Lead-in: information about the authors

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Before you read

1. What do you know about the author of the text? What is his contribution to the theory of international relations? Have you read anything by this author before?
2. Skim the text very quickly and say who it is intended for.
3. What is the register of the text?

While you read

I. Read the first four paragraphs carefully, pencil in hand and
1) find the following words in the text; try to guess their meanings using the context 2) find Russian equivalents of the words 3) match the words from the list with their less formal synonyms

eventual	living, necessities of life
linear	experience, combat
encounter	decrease, shrink
retard	extra, excess
diminish	direct, straight
subsistence	final, expected
surplus	delay, hinder

4) match the collocations from the text:

economic	imperium
exercise	level
universal	forces
countervailing	pattern
diminish	surplus
impose	of the primitive village
subsistence	territories
recurrent	domination
transcend	a limit
adjacent to	returns

II. Read the text again and

1. elucidate on the following notions:

• marginal cost/ benefits
• magnitude
• prerogative
• determinant
• ratio

2. match the term with its definition:

subsequent	to carry off or remove (something) and use it elsewhere
recurrent	to keep or enclose (something) within bounds; restrict
transcend	occurring after; succeeding
reciprocal	lying near, or close; touching; facing;adjoining
circumscribe	occurring or appearing again, esp. repeatedly or periodically
adjacent	to go beyond the ordinary limits of;exceed
siphon off	mutual, corresponding; performed in return

After you read

I. Answer the following question:

1. What are the countervailing forces that come into play to slow down and eventually arrest the impulse of a state to expand its territorial, political, and economic control over the international system?
2. What are the three categories of social formations identified in the passage, and how do they differ in terms of their economic characteristics and their roles in international relations?
3. Is Amin’s formulation of social formations too elaborate, or is it necessary to include all five modes of production to understand the dynamics of different societies? (Do you agree with Amin’s formulation of social formations and the five basic modes of production? Are there other modes of production that could be added to the list?)
4. Is the modern industrial nation-state the most significant social formation in terms of generating and distributing wealth and power among groups and states, or are other social formations equally important in shaping international relations? (Do you agree with the author’s three categories of social formations, and the exclusion of localized social formations from the discussion? Should localized social formations be given more attention in international relations theory?)
5. To what extent did the imperial cycle shape the history of international relations?
6. How did the rise and decline of empires affect international conflict during the premodern era?

II. Summarise the ideas of the chapter

• Definition of growth and expansion in the context of state behavior
• The relationship between war and political change. Importance of state expansion in international relations
• The Dynamics of State Expansion
• Mechanisms of Expansion
• Historical empires and their territorial conquests

III. Assess the text critically according to the following criteria:

• novelty (have you learned anything new?)
• relevance (is this information relevant? Will it be of any use in your own research paper?)
• complexity (was it hard to grasp the main ideas of the text?)