In the ROUTLEDGE ADVANCES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND POLITICS series, this work examines the ontology of agency and the structure in the international system and derives a theoretical framework for the empirical analysis of international relations from these ontological considerations.

Building on Most and Starr's view of opportunity (structural restraints and possibilities) and willingness (agency choice) as both necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for social action, Friedman and Starr argue that the causal interrelationships of agency and structure require these concepts to be defined autonomously, and to encompass explicitly delimited parameters of variability. From these, and from other meta-theoretical considerations, the authors derive and propose a methodologically individualist model of the relationship between, on the one hand, multi-dimensional and dynamic socio-political contexts and, on the other, particular international political elite choice processes. This is the first book to explore this subject in such depth; it is an important contribution to the study of international relations and politics.