Great Powers

The chapter first focuses on the attributes of a great power and the elements that allow us to tell a great power from other states. Such a conceptual effort is followed by a brief historical regression whose purpose is to show the role played by the great powers in the modern and contemporary international systems. Next, I examine the main theories of international relations that claim to explain broad patterns of cooperation and conflict between great powers. Some emphasize the special functions that great powers perform; some rely on the number of the existing great powers; some identify in the rise and decline of the great powers the basic force behind international change. The last section assesses the relevance of the established knowledge for the post-Cold War international system.