Abstract

The return of war in Europe, and more generally the rekindling of conflict between great powers, marks the end of the ‘Wilsonian era’ of international relations. This forces us to rethink not only the profound logic of international relations themselves, but also the nature of war. The problem of the anthropological roots of war and the complex relationship between violence and law must be posed in new terms. Confronting the dark side of human nature is necessary to realistically address the problem of how to prevent the conflict between great powers from degenerating again into a great world war.