It is a particular honour to give this lecture because Martin Wight was a man of great distinction who has left a legacy of enduring achievement, whether it was at Chatham House, here at the LSE, or at the University of Sussex where he was Dean of the first School of European Studies in a British university. I do not know which particular writings he will be most remembered for, but I think his Power Politics will be perhaps most familiar to the general student of international affairs. His own writing and thinking did evolve over time, and I do not think there is anything to be ashamed of in that. Many people were surprised that somebody who could write so realistically and hard-headedly about international affairs could have been a conscientious objector during the war years. But it may be that strange combination which constitutes his distinctive contribution to the study of international affairs. When Power Politics first appeared as a Chatham House booklet in 1946, it was quite easy to categorize Wight's thinking and writing with the realist or the conflict interpretation of international politics, but as the years passed, his writing was much more inclined to show an understanding and awareness and a sensitivity to the internationalist cooperative interpretation and the revolutionist solidarity interpretation. He was, however, a pessimist, I think it is fair to say, about international affairs. You could say, looking around in international affairs there are continuing good grounds for pessimism.