Plato on International Relations

What is it about?

Plato’s political philosophy is usually seen in the context of domestic politics. This essay argues that Plato also has views on international relations theory. We show that Plato had a theory of the causes of international conflict, and that his theory can be seen as a response to Thucydides’ theory as well as theories espoused by other Greek thinkers. Plato’s theory can be generalized to a theory of causation in the social sciences. He also had clear views on what international relations theorists now call “hegemonic stability theory,” “transition theory,” and the nature of political sovereignty.

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