Deutsch’s pioneering work in 1957 looked at the creation of a Western European community, and hence it is not inappropriate that the first chapter in the second part examines Western Europe, including the Nordic countries. Wæver begins by demonstrating the difficulty of defining a security community. Deutsch’s primary criterion of a security community, as linked states not likely to go to war (69), does not immediately carry the broader notions of cooperation that are commonly implied by the use of the phrase. However, convincing alternative definitions seem wanting.

The essay on Europe, like most of the others, has sections on both theory and praxis. The chapter begins with an overview and a list of research questions. It continues with a concise historical summary of the region beginning around 1945 that highlights shared historical experiences under separate national identities. In the analysis of the period from 1960 to 1985, Wæver correctly, in my opinion, includes the eurocommunist movement as presenting problems for security planners. Although the planners overreacted to the threat, the problems, from their perspective, were solved. He also correctly sees cold war tension in Europe as attenuated by approximately 1961. However, the author underplays the international problems faced by planners as a result of the repercussions of the change in government in Saigon in 1975. The analysis has an excellent focus and a viewpoint understandable to the peace research community.

The perspective typically taken by most authors comes from one of the schools in “international relations.” States are assumed to be essentially unitary actors interacting with analogous entities. The authors’ struggle to find meanings in the communities is engaging. Despite the fact that a security community is seen as a collection of states where war is extremely unlikely, I should note that the authors do not necessarily take a perspective typical of peace researchers. The essays certainly share common ground with the preferences of peace researchers, but questions related to the effects of military spending, structural violence, or truly alternative social domestic orders tend not to be raised.

The extent to which the manuscript has a perspective common to international relations theorists can be seen in the chapter by Andrew Hurrell on South America. The chapter concentrates on the relationship between Brazil, Argentina, and to a lesser extent Chile. The region is described as peaceful since the middle of the nineteenth century. There have been virtually no interstate wars in that period. The major recent exception was the Anglo-Argentine conflict of 1982. Obviously, in that case, the home territory of one of the belligerents was outside of the continent. In a well-written historical section, the “secure cooperation” of the states since 1990 is noted in light of divergent identities. It is interesting that, despite the increased density of interactions, “Deutsch’s emphasis on trade, migration, tourism or cultural exchange does not appear relevant in this case” (252).

Given that international relations specialists tend to view the state as the operating unit, these specialists often minimize the importance of domestic events. Policies of military dictatorships throughout South America in the post–World War II period resulted in extensive human rights violations. Surely political repression as pervasive as it was under those regimes should have been included in discussion of South American communities, and may help explain migration or tourist patterns.

The NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) countries are also discussed. In the chapter on U.S.–Canadian relations, Sean Shore says a war has seemed “unimaginable” between these states since the middle of the nineteenth century despite their long border. This pair of countries easily fits the notion of a security community and is analyzed as one. A separate chapter on U.S.–Mexican relations by Guadalupe Gonzalez and Stephan Haggard analyzes a less harmonious country pair.

The chapters on the Gulf cooperation council by Michael Barnett and F. Gregory Gause III and on Southeast Asia by Amitav Acharya highlight the difficulties of transferring a theory developed in the North Atlantic context to other parts of the globe. The discussion in both chapters is fascinating, as the development of some forms of peaceful regional interaction resulted in a realization of some shared identities and led to increased international cooperation. More complex identity issues between and within the states in the Persian Gulf region made the development of a security community more difficult. Other chapters in the second part include one by Richard Higgott and Kim Richard Nossal on Australia, and another by Bruce Russett offering a “neo-Kantian perspective” on security communities.

The chapters in the third part of the manuscript summarize the theoretical features of security communities. In the penultimate chapter, Charles Tilly considers state actors as complex rather than unitary. His interdisciplinary study examines features such as “identity” and “network,” as well as the ambiguity of several other terms. Effectively, we are made to understand the difficulty of stating an encompassing framework.

Although Deutsch’s 1957 work was on Europe, the editors have made a serious effort to include other continents. I have two related nitpicks. First, Africa is conspicuously absent from the list of continents considered. In a second issue related to the writers’ perspective, the phrase denoting a security community “from Vancouver to Vladivostok” (18) appears several times. In context it is clear that one is to imagine North America, Europe, and Asia. This perspective makes sense with a Mercator projection centered in England. However, the shortest distance between western Canada and eastern Russia lies across the Pacific Ocean. Despite the open-mindedness of the authors, some old conceptual frameworks disappear slowly.

Some outlines of the post–cold war era are now apparent. It is likely that our current era will be characterized by the absence of war between the major powers, but wars involving other states will persist. Security communities are likely to form in some peaceful regions in the coming years. The book makes a timely contribution to our understanding of how that might develop.