This book examines the nature, genesis, and perpetuation of the myth of a 'First Great Debate' in International Relations. First the popular conception of the myth, and the recent historiographical revisionism which highlights its inaccuracy, is reviewed. Then, the function of the myth in both contemporary and historical terms is analysed. Finally, as assessment of the negative impact on the discipline of the myth's perpetuation is offered. This book argues that it is only through future research aimed at fully understanding the sites of disciplinary identity formation, and through a wider disciplinary commitment to enhanced historiography, that can the myth be expunged from disciplinary consciousness, and its negative effects reversed.