Reddit reviews History of Political Philosophy

Wow frankly you're really making me mull over helping you as I'm sincerely questioning your priorities and how justified your opinion of yourself is. You may have great critical reasoning abilities but that makes up for nothing in life by itself. In any case Leo Strauss's work the History of Political Philosophy is an exhaustive chronological account of the most significant political thinkers in Western history from Thucydides to Heidegger. I read it as a senior in high school and it's in large part due to this book I ended up in the field I did (intellectual history). A truly invaluable resource.

The Member States of the United Nations - an international organization - recognize borders by recognizing States. Hence, why I said:

> the international community does in fact determine borders.

Here is how that happens.

The UN as an organization enforces and protects those borders. This takes place in a variety of ways.

If you want to understand more about how States became the primary political actor that make rules vis-a-vis each other, this book will help you learn more about that.

If you'd like to learn more about how States use and delegate power to International Organizations in order to solve international problems, this book will help you do that.

If you'd like to learn more about how the UN System works to enforce borders, this book will help you do that.

Someone posted a website where you can find free books on the non-politics thread. You can probably find pdf copies of each of these books (though personally I just keep them on my shelf to read in a more tangible form and for quick reference).

History of Political Philosophy (edited by Strauss and Cropsey) contains insightful and illuminating essays for just about every major thinker in western philosophy. The essays are about the same length as the one you posted- so it's not a stretch to read one in a sitting or two. Machiavelli's entry was done by Strauss himself, who wrote prolifically on Machiavelli and in a lot of ways revitalized serious interest in his works.

It's a great essay, and the book isn't a bad resource to have.
http://www.amazon.com/History-Political-Philosophy-Leo-Strauss/dp/0226777103

If you're interested in political philosophy at all, this is an excellent book that ranges from Thucydides to Heidegger. Also, some of the contributors to that book are worth reading separately as well.