White World Order, Black Power Politics: The Birth of American International Relations

White World Order, Black Power Politics examines the development of International Relations as an academic discipline in the United States. The book focuses on the period between 1900-1960, tracing how racial hierarchies and imperial ideologies shaped the field's early foundations. The narrative centers on Howard University's contributions to IR scholarship and the forgotten work of African American scholars who challenged mainstream views. Robert Vitalis reconstructs the debates between white academics who promoted theories of racial supremacy and Black intellectuals who fought against these ideas. The book chronicles the transformation of colonial administration studies into what became known as International Relations, documenting institutional histories at major universities. The research draws from archival materials, academic journals, and correspondence between scholars of the era. This work reveals how embedded racial thinking influenced theoretical frameworks that still impact contemporary IR scholarship. Vitalis raises questions about the ongoing legacy of these origins within academic institutions and international policy discussions.

Readers emphasize the book's thorough research exposing racism's role in early international relations scholarship and institutions. Several note it functions as both a history of IR as a field and an examination of racial power structures in academia. Liked: - Documentation of forgotten Black scholars and their contributions - Clear links between IR's origins and white supremacist ideologies - Detailed archival evidence and primary sources - Focus on Howard University's overlooked role Disliked: - Dense academic writing style - Repetitive arguments in middle chapters - Limited discussion of solutions or modern implications - Some readers found the title misleading, expecting more focus on Black Power movements Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (47 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (22 ratings) Academic review site H-Net praised its "meticulous research" but noted it "requires careful reading" One academic reviewer on H-Diplo called it "path-breaking" while cautioning it's "not for casual readers."

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🔹 The book reveals that the first scholars of international relations in the U.S. were primarily focused on maintaining white supremacy and colonial order, challenging the conventional origin story of IR as a field born from idealistic efforts to prevent war. 🔹 Howard University, a historically Black institution, established a rival school of international relations in the 1920s that directly challenged racist assumptions in the field and developed alternative theoretical frameworks. 🔹 Robert Vitalis spent over a decade conducting research for this book, uncovering forgotten archives and institutional records that had been largely ignored by mainstream IR scholars. 🔹 The term "international relations" itself was originally used interchangeably with "race relations" in many early academic works and institutional documents from the early 20th century. 🔹 The book won the 2017 Robert L. Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association's International History and Politics Section, marking a significant acknowledgment of its contribution to rewriting IR's disciplinary history.