In this collection of work by renowned scholar Amitav Acharya, Acharya draws on extensive research from throughout his career and examines the dominant understandings of three of the most important theoretical concepts used by scholars of world politics: power, institutions and ideas.

Introduction, Rethinking Power, Institutions and Ideas in World Politics I. IR Theory and Its Discontents Chapter1. International Relations Theory and Western Dominance, Chapter 2. Dialogue and Discovery: International Relations Theories beyond the West Chapter 3. Comparative Regionalism: A Field Whose Time Has Come? II. Power, Intervention and Global Disorders Chapter 4. The Cold War as "Long Peace" Reexamined Chapter 5. State Sovereignty After 9/11: Disorganized Hypocrisy III. Institutions, Autonomy and Regional Orders Chapter 6. Multilateralism : Beyond Hegemony and Without Victory Chapter Chapter 7. The Contested Regional Architecture of World Politics IV: Ideas, Agency and Normative Cultures Chapter 8 How Ideas Spread, Whose Norms Matter? Chapter 9. Norm Subsidiarity and Regional Orders, Conclusion Towards a Global IR? Pathways and Pitfalls

"Amitav Acharya is not only the leading non-Western scholar of IR theory in the United States, he is one of the most innovative scholars working in the field. What makes him stand out among the theoretically oriented scholars in the field is the deductive nature of his theorizing that is informed by his own high quality empirical research. He is one of the very few scholars of IR who are equally comfortable doing empirical research as well as theorizing, indeed who consider both these enterprises as two sides of the same coin." Mohammed Ayoob, University Distinguished Professor of International Relations, Michigan State University, USA.At a time when non-Western states are playing an increasingly prominent role in world affairs, Amitav Acharya asks the timely question: to what extent are traditional international relations approaches capable of transcending cultural boundaries and explaining behavior in non-Western systems? He argues that theories home grown in the Global South are often more adept at tapping into these new realities. His own insightful theoretical contributions provide strong evidence to back up this claim, making this book a necessary read. Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations, Columbia University, USA."Acharya convincingly demonstrates that mainstream IR theories have been too Western-centric and he offers a clear path for theoretical development. ... Acharya’s case is powerfully made and deserves to be widely read by those concerned with the discipline." Xander Kirke, Newcastle University