Published in April 2024, Marxism and International Relations presents a novel articulation between a theoretical-revolutionary perspective and the discipline of International Relations, offering a fresh contribution to the field. It should be noted that the latter emerged around 1919 in the context of the immediate post-war period, partly in response to the rise of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The fifteen chapters of the volume are works that have previously been published in Portuguese, either in full or in part. Its publication in English facilitates dialogue with broader academic circles, enriching intellectual exchange and, to some extent, breaking the prevailing divide between the Global North and the Global South.

The book is divided into four thematic sections. The first, “Key Ideas by Marx and Engels for International Relations”, examines The Communist Manifesto, which is treated as a foundational text for understanding the contradictory interplay between international and transnational processes in the capitalist constitution of the modern world. Building on this foundation, the second chapter explores how Marx and Engels analysed the configuration of the global power system through their articles published in the New York Daily Tribune (1851–1862). Among other topics, the author investigates the Crimean War and the role of Russia, British diplomacy, and various diplomatic treaties of the nineteenth century. The following chapter focuses on the Marxist contribution to the study (and generation) of revolutions, a crucial yet often overlooked phenomenon in the field of International Relations, which has been primarily concerned with counteracting them.

The second section, “Marxist Thinkers as International Relations Theorists”, presents the main contributions to the theory of imperialism, synthesized by Lenin in 1916. In the first chapter, the main points of this theory are introduced in simple terms: monopolies, financial capital, uneven development, colonial expansion, militarism. The following chapter examines the “first great debate” in International Relations (between “realists” and “idealists”), arguing that such debates are abstract constructs, designed to structure theoretical discussions within the discipline. In this regard, the author incorporates isolated contributions from Rosa Luxemburg, situating them within both the “realist” and “idealist” frameworks. While this approach is consistent, it comes at the cost of decontextualizing the central role of the Polish economist as a revolutionary leader of an international movement (communism) that sought to reshape international relations by encouraging social revolutions at the national level.

The remaining four chapters of the section study the contributions of Nicos Poulantzas, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Domenico Losurdo, and David Harvey to the theory of imperialism. The chapter on Poulantzas elaborates on his perspective on class, the state, and especially imperialism, highlighting the “power bloc” as a key aspect of inter-state relations, particularly regarding ties among imperialist nations. The next chapter, drawing from Laclau and Mouffe’s postmodern perspective, delves into the complex identity formations that accompanied the struggles for hegemony after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the tensions with the populist governments of twenty-first century Latin America, and the ways in which social movements have become embedded in this context. Here, an update of the content would have been valuable, especially concerning some ongoing political experiences. The subsequent chapters on Losurdo and Harvey, respectively, make important contributions by foregrounding the geopolitical dimension and the capital accumulation as crucial factors that have frequently shaped colonialist and/or militaristic tendencies.

The third section, “Marxist Theories on Imperialism”, begins with a chapter on the role of the state, to some extent reiterating themes and aspects of imperialism already discussed earlier in the volume. The second chapter draws on debates on imperialism after World War II between Harry Magdoff, Ernest Mandel, and Poulantzas. At this point, the role of the United States as the global geopolitical enforcer during the Cold War becomes inescapable. The final chapter in this section examines the stability of imperialism as a system, analysing classical authors such as Rudolf Hilferding, Nikolai Bukharin, and Karl Kautsky, as well as more recent scholars like Jerry Harris, William Robinson, and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Empire. By contrasting these perspectives with those of Spyros Sakellaropoulos, Panagiotis Sotiris, and Alexander Marshall – who build upon Lenin’s theory of imperialism – the chapter convincingly argues that the contemporary challenges to US global leadership, China’s economic rise in recent years, and Russia’s repositioning on the world stage collectively undermine any possibility of stability in the international system.

The fourth and final section, “Latin-American Theory on Dependency”, represents the most concrete contribution of the book “from the Global South”, given that the theory on dependency emerged in the context of the 1959 Cuban Revolution and the popular uprisings of the 1960s and 1970s. The first chapter outlines the historical background and intellectual roots of the theory on dependency, its main conceptual contributions, and its potential articulation with International Relations as a discipline. In this regard, it identifies two groups of authors: on one side, those who viewed socialist revolution as the only viable path for Latin American development (Ruy Marini, Vânia Bambirri, and Theotônio Dos Santos), crystallized in Chile’s “road to socialism” under the government of Salvador Allende (1970–1973); on the other, Fernando Cardoso and Enzo Faletto, whose influential Dependency and Development in Latin America (written between 1966 and 1967 within the framework of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC) proposed institutional transformation without breaking from the capitalist framework.

The following chapter, “Imperialism and Dependence vs. Interdependence”, contextualizes the antagonism between these frameworks, presenting the latter as one of the theoretical responses developed by US and European intellectuals in opposition to the theory on dependency. By analysing the intellectual and political trajectories of Joseph Nye and Robert Keohane, the author underscores how the theory of “complex interdependence” ultimately omits any reference to the structural relationship of domination between nations. Finally, the last chapter revisits key texts that have characterized Brazilian foreign policy as “sub-imperialist”, assessing Marini’s contributions from a perspective anchored in the theory on dependency. Here, the author contrasts these theoretical frameworks with the concrete reality of Brazil under the presidency of Lula da Silva (2003–2010), both domestically and in relation to neighbouring countries (Bolivia, Paraguay), ultimately demonstrating that the concept of “sub-imperialism” does not effectively apply to this case study.

In sum, Marxism and International Relations serves as a valuable reference for fostering the dialogue between Latin American and Anglophone academia, particularly for students of International Relations interested in Marxist contributions. In any case, it would have been desirable to include an introduction and/or a concluding essay that integrates and discusses the chapters and, why not, includes key contemporary issues such as the decline of US global leadership, the growing competition from China and Russia, or the new cycle of debt and crisis in Latin America.