Recent Books on International Relations

Foreign Affairs, January, 2004

Political and Legal

G. John Ikenberry

The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs About the Use of Force. by Martha Finnemore. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003, 192 pp. $26.00.

In this superb inquiry into the reasons states use force abroad, Finnemore looks at military intervention over the past four centuries and concludes that the objectives of powerful states have evolved considerably. What the international community deems legitimate has changed over time -- and states have tended to adjust accordingly. Traditional explanations for changes in patterns of intervention emphasize the effects of new technologies or material capabilities, focusing on the costs and benefits of intervention. Finnemore does not entirely reject these accounts,...