Overview

In this seminal study, Peter J. Katzenstein drags the analysis of world politics from the Newtonian humanism of the nineteenth century into a new post-Newtonianism of the twenty-first. The key concept is entanglement. By examining differences in context, process, and language, Katzenstein specifies how risk and uncertainty intertwine. Three deeply researched case studies – finance and political economy, nuclear crisis politics and war, and global warming and AI – support his original arguments. A chapter on power further illustrates the risk-uncertainty conundrum. Entanglements in World Politics calls for humility and eclectic pragmatism, emphasizing the unity of knowledge of the natural and humanistic sciences and the complementarities of science and religion. Katzenstein's engaging writing and innovative approach make this a must-read for anyone interested in the complexities of global politics. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

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9781009675802

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Reviews

'Whereas uncertainty is an enduring condition of world politics, Katzenstein's book is groundbreaking for embracing it, contra the social scientific impulse to mitigate or control it. As he reminds us, 'there is no simple … path through the complexities of contemporary crisis.' By creating conceptual space for a social science that accounts for both (knowable) risk and (unknowable) uncertainty, this book provides not a compass, but a pragmatic and sagacious guide.' Steven Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Global Environmental and Sustainability Governance, University of Toronto 'Katzenstein is political sciences' great re-framer of problems. He once turned a world of empire into a world of regions. Now he turns worlds of risk and uncertainty into worlds of mutual entanglement where the certain and the unexpected uneasily cohabit. Rather than treat worlds of finance and security as separate and fully knowable, Katzenstein shows us how they mutually imbricate, reinforcing and fracturing as they move forward. Keynes sought to show us how the once general theory of competitive equilibrium was but a special case of a more general class of possible states of the world where calculability and risk were but fleeting companions. Taking up Keynes' concern with the structuring role of conventions in a world that is both risky and uncertain, Katzenstein rethinks what power is and how it is exercised in such a fleeting world.' Mark Blyth, The William R. Rhodes '57 Professor of International Economics, The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University 'International Relations has found its Tolstoy! The hard problem of uncertainty in world politics has found its match. Dancing nimbly on the cutting edge of the sciences and humanities, jumping deftly from the subatomic to the geopolitical, Katzenstein constructs a protean world view for navigating the political, financial and environmental uncertainties and risks of the twenty-first century. He does so with a humility and humour uncommon in academic treatises. If you are looking for a ray of hope in a time of dark fears and creeping nihilism, read this wickedly smart book.' James Der Derian, Michael Hintze Chair of International Security, University of Sydney 'The third in his masterful trilogy, Entanglements in World Politics is Katzenstein at his best. This ambitious and powerful reimagining of international relations theory dares us to abandon long held ideas and embrace new political imaginaries. With his trademark erudition and skill, Katzenstein lays bare 'conundrums' at the heart of our thinking about politics and challenges the foundations on which we build our understandings of the world. Readers will come away rethinking many long-held assumptions about how we know what we know, and with new ideas about paths forward.' Martha Finnemore, University Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University 'Katzenstein contrasts risk - where probabilities can be calculated - with uncertainty, where such calculations are impossible. For issue after issue, he shows that uncertainty is pervasive: worldviews and theories that deny or overlook 'the risk-uncertainty conundrum' fail. Erudite and challenging, Entanglements in World Politics will profoundly affect its readers' worldviews.' Robert O. Keohane, Professor of International Affairs, Princeton University 'This important book about ubiquitous uncertainty and interpretation of risk in international relations demonstrates that Katzenstein remains among the most creative and erudite scholars in political science. Who else can illuminate current and historical crises in political economy, security studies, and climate change with equal depth and insight? This plea for empathy for others and humility about ourselves should be widely-read and debated.' Scott D. Sagan, Caroline S.G. Munro Professor, Department of Political Science, Stanford University 'Katzenstein's highly readable tour de force calls out the overwhelming tendency of social scientists to conflate calculable risk and incalculable uncertainty. Invoking Tolstoy's warning against the false lure of 'an imaginary knowledge of the perfect truth,' his penetrating insights on theories and myths of political economy are essential to understanding the crisis of our times. He calls for a philosophically self-aware pragmatism treating theories as stories in a distinctive merger of science and humanistic thought.' Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations, Columbia University 'This book changes how we study global politics. Katzenstein makes an original and seminal contribution by joining the Newtonian and post-Newtonian worlds to those of risk and uncertainty. Our politics are shaped simultaneously by linear, additive worlds and by dynamic non-linear worlds where they are entangled in complex ways. Knowing which world we are in when matters. This book speaks to the moment with a unique, important, and defining voice.' Janice Gross Stein, Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management, University of Toronto

Author Information

Peter J. Katzenstein is the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. His work addresses issues of political economy, security and culture in world politics. In 2020 he was named the 26th recipient of the Johan Skytte Prize. He is the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of more than 40 books, edited volumes or monographs and over 100 articles or book chapters. Recent books include Uncertainty and Its Discontents: Worldviews in World Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Downfall: The End of the American Order (co-edited with Jonathan Kirshner, 2022); and Protean Power: Exploring the Uncertain and Unexpected in World Politics (co-edited with the late Lucia Seybert, Cambridge University Press, 2018).  Katzenstein served as President of the American Political Science Association from 2008-09, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Science in 1987, the American Philosophical Society in 2009 and the British Academy in 2015. He holds six honorary degrees.

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