Introducing The Politics of Domination: A Precis

This article is an introduction to a symposium on my book: John McGarry, The Politics of Domination: Taking, Keeping, and Losing Control over Other Peoples (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026). It offers a brief summary of the book, including what it means by domination and the stratagems that domination regimes use to establish and maintain themselves. The article also outlines the book’s two core theses: that external intervention is usually needed to end domination regimes, and that domination should not be seen as “preferable” to genocides or expulsions–as some have claimed–but as something that is likely to facilitate these outcomes.