This book is vintage Chan. In characteristically brisk and accessible style, it offers, among many things, a new way of thinking about difference at play in international relations and in International Relations. I especially like Chan's consideration of a question that concerns many: is the Daesh/ISIS difference a threat to the state system as we understand it? (Hint: probably not.) ... Read more Christine Sylvester, University of Connecticut and Gothenburg University, Sweden (affiliate) Stephen Chan is a rare voice of originality in the study of international relations. He also writes well, a relatively unusual trait in a subject befogged by jargon. Chan cuts through the thickets to make a clear and impassioned plea for more openness and intellectual honesty in the subject. In the process he tells a rattling good yarn, with marvelous character portraits, momentous events and synthesis of very difficult ideas, all in clear language. I can only applaud him for it. Andrew Williams, University of St. Andrews, UK Show Less