The discipline of international relations (IR) has long been dominated by a well-established community of American scholars, however certain strands of continental theorizing, illustrated by Thomas Risse's article "Let's Argue", have recently been introduced into the US mainstream.

The book offers a critical examination of European approaches to IR theory and suggests practical ways of transcending the American intellectual hegemony over the discipline. The author provides a detailed analysis of existing European IR communities, schools and approaches comparing France, Italy and Scandinavia, and the English school and social constructivism. The author also provides a chapter about theoretical reconstruction arguing that it is the most creative way for the individual scholar to take advantage of the theoretical pluralism associated with European approaches to IR theory.

The book will inform scholars from the United States, Europe and elsewhere about the existence and relevance of European approaches to IR theory and provides an agenda for the progressive development of a 'Eurodiscipline' of IR studies.