Parapolitics was written by one of the deepest thinkers of the twentieth century, and arguably, of the last millennium. This is not an easy book to read or to review. What is offered in this text is a way of thinking about politics beyond the ism's of yesterday and today. What is offered is a way of thinking about the future in ways grounded in a deep understanding of the ancient wisdom of East and West. The text explores at once the "costs of commitment" entailed in creating a more constructive future -- which the author, employing the historically neuter grammatical construction, characterizes as the "City of Man." This opening section is book-ended with a section on the "critical distance" needed, if one is truly to rethink the foundations and contours of politics for a worthwhile and viable future.

The reader is invited to rethink for him or herself foundational assumptions by drawing upon the diverse and common heritage of mankind, to explore in terms of a Platonic dialectic, the impact of these assumptions on human relations, and to self-consciously make his or her own choices for a future that is at once probing as to its assumptive base, embracing in terms of a fraternity of mankind, and ultimately founded upon firmer stuff than is offered through the prevalence of contemporary ism's -- whether those in defeat or those for an episodical moment, claiming victory. Ultimately, this is a book that challenges readers to address, rethink, and bridge the gap between theoria and praxis in politics in ways that we in the modern world have largely forgotten how to do.