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Kenneth Waltz: An Intellectual Biography provides an illuminative reading of Waltz’s early life, academic life, and retirement years. The book’s plain and fluent language makes it attractive to both students and scholars who focus on international relations, as well as to those with a casual interest in this subject.

The rising economic insecurity and inequality in the West have undermined liberal internationalism’s social purpose. Thus, liberal internationalism should curtail its global reach. Liberal democracies can make the world safe by returning to liberal internationalism’s club-like character. Constructivism argues that building an international order is substantially a business of managing cultural diversity. However, diversity regimes both constitute certain cultural forms and exclude others. As a result, cultural and political contestation intensifies and challenges the present international order. A lasting international order necessities legitimacy by tolerating cultural diversity. However, whether the liberal international order is legitimate enough is a contested one.

Exit from Hegemony succeeds in presenting a complicated subject with an explanatory theoretical framework and empirical investigation. By illustratively framing the subject, the authors stimulate readers to deep dive into the subject, and the plain language of the book appeals to a wider audience interested in international relations.