Myths are part and parcel of contemporary international politics,

and they are all around us. From the invocation of ‘the international community’ to talk of Afghanistan as a ‘graveyard of empires’ or home of ‘warlords’, and from ideas of ‘antiseptic battlefields’ in modern warfare to concepts of ‘coordination’, ‘participation’ and ‘effectiveness’ in the work of interna­tional organisations—international politics is replete with powerful narra­tives and commonly held beliefs that qualify as myths.

Unlike their classical Greek and Roman predecessors, whose narrative personae tended to be recruited from the exclusive circle of gods and larger-than-life heroes, modern political myths are usually less excep­tional in nature. Yet, despite their seeming banality, they nevertheless constitute ‘myths’, understood by most modern theorists as either a powerful paradigmatic narrative or a deeply engrained commonly held belief (see Chap. 2).

This book explores how the theoretically informed study of myths can enhance our understanding of international politics.