Event Date: November 5, 2026 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Location: FSS 4006, 120 University Private, University of Ottawa

Presented by CIPS and the International Theory Network (ITN)

Most theories of power politics thus shared a suite of assumptions: the lack of a world government (anarchy) fundamentally distinguishes international from domestic politics; anarchy inevitably dooms international cooperation; states are the dominant actors; and military force is the primary tool of great-power competition. In their forthcoming book, The Dynamics of Power Politics, Stacie E. Goddard, Paul K. MacDonald, and Daniel H. Nexon present a comprehensive post-realist approach to studying power politics. They start with a simple observation: power politics concerns competitive collective mobilization. Participants seek to increase their ability to mobilize resources, but they also try to weaken the ability of others to do the same. Building on insights from the study of social relations and networks, the authors argue that all those who pursue influence—whether states, political movements, bureaucrats, or neighborhood associations—draw from the same basic menu of tactics. But this does not mean that power politics never changes. Participants combine those tactics with available capabilities, from nuclear weapons to marriage prospects, and arrange the resulting instruments within evolving power-political repertoires.

Speaker:

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His  academic work covers a range of subjects, most notably international-relations theory, international order, U.S. foreign policy, and power politics. The primary focus of his scholarship is on “international hierarchy”: the dynamics of empires, hegemonic powers, confederations, and other logics of international and transnational governance. Professor Nexon— along with his frequent co-author, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson — was an early and influential advocate of relational approaches to the study of world politics. He has held fellowships at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University’s Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010, he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. From 2014-2018, he was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly. Nexon has also written for such non-academic outlets as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Atlantic. 

Chair:

Kevin McMillan is a professor of international relations at the School of Political Studies, and since 2012 has co-coordinated the CIPS International Theory Network. His book, The Constitution of Social Practices, makes a case for a systematically historical and relational approach to the study of political practices.