ABSTRACT
Clear concepts are central to social science research. They structure how we see the world, how we categorize different empirical phenomena as the same or as being different from each other; they are the foundation of good theorizing and help to structure complex information into understandable ‘containers’. They thus play a central role in how we study social phenomena. The central argument of this book is that most analyses of regional powers suffer from the absence of clear conceptualization, which prevents meaningful comparison and meaningful theorizing of this particular aspect of international political life.
