Creative Breakthroughs in Politics

Neal Riemer's new book explores a vital, but surprisingly neglected theme. Riemer first examines two great historical breakthroughs: to religious liberty, and to the American federal republic. He then contrasts these genuine breakthroughs to two spurious ones: Calhoun's theory of the concurrent majority and Marx's theory of universal human emancipation. Riemer also examines a contemporary breakthrough to European Union to underscore the sense of continuing to deal with major problems that the conventional wisdom has deemed incapable of solution. Finally, he addresses a future breakthrough to protect against genocide via a global human rights regime employing policies of prudent prevention, effective implementation, and just humanitarian intercession. This book seeks to move political science beyond Cold War mentality and practice, a narrow-minded political realism, and post-modernism's nihilism toward a more prophetic politics. Riemer's latest book will be of crucial importance to scholars and students in all areas of political science, political philosophy, human rights, and international relations.

NEAL RIEMER is Andrew V. Stout Professor of Political Philosophy, Emeritus, at Drew University in New Jersey. He is the author or coauthor of more than ten books, including most recently Let Justice Roll (1996), The New World of Politics, (1994), and New Thinking and Developments in International Politics (1991). In the Spring Semester, 1996, he was the Distinguished Visiting Honors Professor at the University of Central Florida.