The Closure of the International System : How Institutions Create Political Equalities and Hierarchies (Hardcover)

1. False promises of universalism: the interdependent logics of equality and inequality in the international system; 2. The closure thesis: social closure, club dynamics, and stratification in the international system; 3. 'The master institution': diplomacy, practices of closure, and the emergence of an international system in early modern Europe; 4. 'Dwarves and giants': international law, the monopolization of sovereign rights, and stratification in the international system; 5. International organizations: between sovereign equality and the institutionalization of inequality; 6. What remains of the promise of equality?; Index.