In After Hegemony neoliberal institutionalist Robert O. Keohane deals with the 'central political dilemma': How to organize international cooperation without hegemony? Or in other words, does cooperation possible in post-hegemonic world? Keohane audaciously contends that cooperation is possible without hegemony since international regimes make this cooperation possible. In this sense, his thesis can be considered as anti-thesis of hegemonic stability theory (HST) since HST necessitates a hegemon for regime maintenance specifically and for international cooperation in general. His standing, however, might not be considered as a fundamental criticism of the realist stream since he accepts basic realist premises of international cooperation. For instance, he reiterates that states are the major actors in international politics and they are driven by interest maximizing goals. On the other hand, Keohane also basically argues that 'although hegemony can facilitate cooperation, it is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for it...hegemony is less important for the continuation of cooperation, once after began, than for its creation'.In this respect, he differentiates hegemon's role in creation of international regimes from their maintenance. While he keeps hegemonic power important in creating regimes he does not see hegemon so significant for the their maintenance. What are the functions and/or benefits of international regimes? Keohane also examines this fundamental problem in his work. They decrease transaction costs and uncertainty by helping to create information among states. By doing that, they serve states' self-interests and dwindle incentives for cheating. Fear of retaliation and search for reputation are the key reasons why states eschew to break the rules of international regimes. The concept of 'bounded rationality' is also important in Keohane's re-formulation of regimes since it motivates states to uphold international regimes for their self-interests. According to him 'bounded rationality' relaxes the strict assumptions of rationality and they make states emphatically interdependent to each other. Then it leads to shifts in state preferences and they will be more likely to cooperate by means of international regimes. In this respect, Keohane tends generally to see interdependence as a beneficial element for international cooperation. Moreover, After Hegemony also have case studies in three issue areas; trade, money, and oil. Keohane examines international regimes in these areas for post-hegemonic period that the US power began to decline by the early 1970s. He finds hegemonic stability theory relevant for oil while he does not do that for the issue areas of trade and money. In sum, he makes the point: non-hegemonic cooperation is difficult but not impossible.

Robert Keohane is one of the top five International Relations theorists today. His book "After Hegemony", written in 1984, is considered to be the iniciator of the neoliberal institutionalist school of IR. In this book, Keohane shows that although states live in an anarchic world and are racional actors, they can cooperate with each other through institutions. This book revolutionalised the field and opened a fierce debate on cooperation that lasts until now. A very interesting book written by a master in the field - that is enough recommendation.