John Anthony Pella, Jr. is a Research Fellow at the Department of Diplomacy in the School for International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, China.

It can be argued that the nature of the contemporary international relations is largely the product of the expansion of a core group of European states' political institutions from the late 19th century. This book offers a critique and reappraisal, presenting a series of case studies which trace how the expansion process evolved over the course of modern West-Central African and Western European history.

1. Introduction, 2. Studying the expansion of international society, 3. Towards a deeper empirical and theoretical understanding, 4. The West-Central African system, 1300-1434, 5. Constructing the trans-Atlantic slave trade, 1434-1820, 6. The obligation to civilize, 1775-1875, 7. Competition and colonization, 1859-1900, 8. Conclusion