Abstract

International history as a discipline has a solid and lasting background. This article identifies two aspects of a methodological discussion that has lasted over the years: the first is connected to the broadening of its objects of study; the second concerns the never-ending discussion on how historians' evolving views and perspectives have affected their approach and therefore the nature of the discipline itself. A further challenge, and disciplinary revision, seems to be under way today, as the field grapples with the demand to adopt a more «trans-national» and/or «global» approach. By identifying the opportunities and limits of these changes, the article calls for a «new and mestized international history», founded on some of the most solid elements of its tradition (beginning with the centrality of the State in the structure of international power), but capable of incorporating new approaches that connect the «micro» and «macro» dimensions.