![]() It is somewhat dismaying, then, that the reviewers seem so pessimistic, even frustrated, by what these two books suggest about dialogue between historians and political scientists. Likewise, Mitzen joins the rank of theorists such as John Ikenberry in carefully situating her theoretical innovations within the existing nineteenth century European diplomatic history. Jarrett is no different, engaging with levels-of-analysis debates and regime theory throughout his account. Historians of the Congress and Concert system, including Paul Schroeder, Enno Kraehe, and of course Charles Webster, consciously and carefully used the terms of international relations theory and law to build their masterful works. There is perhaps no better substantive ground on which these two disciplines should meet. Rather than summarize the exceptional commentaries provided in this roundtable, this introduction will focus on a specific theme, namely, what is that these two works say about the ongoing dialogue between international relations scholars on the one hand and historians on the other. It is a work, as Brian Vick argues, that provides an “insightful and potentially important contribution to international relations theory, with policy implications for diplomatic practice in an era of aspiring global governance.” As the reviewers here note, Jarrett is a gifted storyteller, and he deftly weaves together meticulous archival research in a book that Charles Maier argues will “become our generation’s authoritative study of the peace settlements of 1814-1815.” An international relations theorist, Mitzen takes the Congress as an opportunity to challenge and revamp scholars’ approach to “global governance.” Here, she focuses on how the “forums” of the Congress-the public institutional space in which the European ministers met-ultimately allowed, and sometimes forced, statesmen to pursue their collective intentions, even when their more parochial interests would suggest otherwise. Jarrett’s work offers a spectacular narrative of the origins and operation of the Congress system, and is breathtaking in its scope and in its depth. Scholars in both these fields are thus fortunate to have two outstanding new contributions to this already venerable scholarship. The Congress system has long captured the attention of historians and political scientists alike. © Copyright 2015This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Author’s Response by Jennifer Mitzen, Ohio State University.Author’s Response by Mark Jarrett, Independent Historian. ![]() Review by Matthew Rendall, University of Nottingham.Review by Charles Maier, Harvard University.Review by George Lawson, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).: PDF URL (best option for printing and offline use): Published by H-Diplo/ISSF on 30 January 2015 Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Power in Concert: The Nineteenth Century Origins of Global Governance. The Congress of Vienna and Its Legacy: War and Great Power Diplomacy after Napoleon. H-Diplo/ISSF Editors: James McAllister, Thomas Maddux and Diane Labrosse H-Diplo/ISSF Roundtable and Web/Production Editor: George Fujii 11 (2015)Ī production of H-Diplo with the journals Security Studies, International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, and the International Studies Association’s Security Studies Section (ISSS). ![]() H- Diplo | ISSF Roundtable, Volume VII, No. ![]() And more importantly, at Vienna these powers laid the groundwork for what Mark Jarrett calls “an audacious experiment in international cooperation” (205): a congress system, in which powers would engage in “habitual confidential and free intercourse between the Ministers of the Great Powers as a body” in hope that “many pretensions might be modified, asperities removed, and causes of irritation anticipated and met” (205). It was the great powers, the “Pentarchy” of Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia, who dictated the territorial and political agreements that formed the core of a European grand settlement. From September of 1814 to June of 1815, over 200 representatives met in the Austrian capital to rebuild the foundations of European diplomacy, which lay in shambles after over twenty years of war. This year marks the bicentennial anniversary of the Congress of Vienna.
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