ABSTRACT
The 1980s was a period of structural change in world politics. Thatcher and Reagan consolidated their power and dramatically redrew the role of the state and its relation with its citizens. The US indirect response to the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan opened the door for Osama bin Laden and radical Islamism. In Europe, the Berlin Wall crumbled, by the end of the decade, while the European integration project expanded and showed the world that other forms of international governance were possible. On the academic front, it was a period of great innovation, with many authors and theories nowadays seen as part of IR’s canon developed during this period. Some had the ultimate aim of reinforcing the status quo; others clearly focused on challenging it.
