ABSTRACT
We have seen that the further the legitimacy of a society of states is towards the multiple independences end of the spectrum, and especially the more anarchic in the technical sense its practice is, the more the maintenance of order depends on the most powerful member states conducting their relations with a sense of prudence and moral obligation. In the first half of this century reliance on such voluntary restraints proved altogether inadequate, with disastrous results. A purpose of this book has been to examine what further limits to independence now operate in practice, and whether they are adequate to the task of maintaining economic, strategic and other forms of order in today’s continually tightening world system.
