This book exposes the deep logical contradictions of Realist political thought and counters it with a new, more robust theory of war. ""War and the State"" dismantles the fundamental workings of Realism and exposes its intrinsic flaws. Where Realists insist that any theory of international politics should focus on the interactions within a system of states, Wagner demonstrates that any understanding of international politics must instead be part of the more general study of the relationship between political order and organized violence - as it was in the intellectual tradition from which modern-day Realism was derived. In this, his first book, Harrison Wagner draws on the insights from his distinguished career of international relations scholarship to create an elegantly crafted essay accessible to both students and scholars.