This review of “Miller, Manjari Chatterjee (2021): Why Nations Rise. Narratives and the Path to Great Power“, shows that the rise of great powers in international relations ist not only caused by factors such as power resources that transition theory or rationalist and neo-realist theories propose but also by factors emphazised by constructivist theories – specifically narratives of ambition. These narratives in fact determine why some nations pursue great power status while others do not even though they posses the material factors neccessary.

The book review has been published in German language in Politische Vierteljahresschrift (vol. 63, no. 1, pp-137-139) and is available as open access.