International Relations: A Concise Introduction / Edition 2

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More About This Textbook

Overview

"The twenty-first century world is in a state of rapid change and the study of international relations is marked by a renewed ferment of ideas. Increasing economic, cultural and political globalization has made the world more interconnected and interdependent. New and shifting patterns of alliances and conflict are emerging, and long-ignored issues - such as the environment, gender and global political economy, often in the past regarded as irrelevant to the study of international relations - are now seen as crucial." "The Cold War is over, but there are still many nuclear weapons in the world. People still fight bloodthirsty battles. And terrorism and counter-terror have re-emerged as key aspects of the new world order. War and peace, poverty and wealth, remain the central problems facing the modern world. There are no easy answers, and some doubt whether there may be answers at all, although the author repudiates such pessimism - stressing the need for theory as a basis for understanding and action and the need to root such theory firmly in the real world." The second edition of this lively introductory text has been revised and updated throughout with new chapters added on globalization and on post-positivist theory while retaining the clarity, accessibility and panache of the original.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780814758229
  • Publisher: New York University Press
  • Publication date: 2/1/2003
  • Edition description: Second Edition
  • Edition number: 2
  • Pages: 227
  • Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Michael Nicholson was Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex.

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Table of Contents

Foreword to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
1 Introduction: Aspects of Anarchy 1
The Nature of International Relations 1
War and Peace; Poverty and Wealth 3
A Brief Portrait of the World in Figures 4
Theory and the Search for Patterns 8
The Structure of the Book 10
An Invitation to an Argument 13
2 States, Nations and Governments 16
States 16
States, Nations and Governments 17
The Structure of State Decision-Making 21
Quasi States and Failing States 26
Crisis Decision-Making 29
3 Beyond the State: Non-State Actors in the Modern World 34
Actors and Movements 34
The United Nations 36
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund 40
The European Union 42
Multinational Corporations 43
International Non-Governmental Organizations 45
Religions 46
4 A Brief History of the Twentieth Century 50
The First World War 50
The Interwar Period and the Second World War 53
The Post-1945 Era 58
The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the End of the Cold War 62
The Middle East since 1945 64
5 Imperialism, Post-Imperialism and Neo-Imperialism 68
Empires and Colonies 68
Imperial Expansion 70
The Stability of Empires 74
The Decline of Empires 76
Settlers, Immigrants and Native Populations 80
Neo-Colonialism and Informal Empires 83
The Post-Imperial World 85
Cultural Imperialism 87
6 Theories of International Relations 90
The Nature of Theory 90
Realism 91
Variants of Realism 96
Pluralism 98
Structuralism 100
A Comparison Between the Different Viewpoints 103
Why Do We Need Theories? 106
Can Theories 'Tell the Truth'? 110
7 Post-Positivist Theories and Change 114
The Role of Theory 114
Marxism and Critical Theory 115
Postmodernism 117
Feminist Theories of International Relations 120
Constructivism 122
Theory, Policy and Change 123
8 Security, Violence and the Military 128
The Study of Security 128
Nuclear Weapons and Deterrence 129
Did Nuclear Deterrence Prevent a Superpower War? 134
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 135
Alternatives to Nuclear Deterrence 140
Who Fights Whom and Why? 142
Economic Sanctions 145
Women, Violence and the Military 148
9 The Global Political Economy 153
The Significance of Economic Factors 153
The Liberal Approach 156
The Nationalist Approach 158
Dependency Approaches 161
The Relationship Between the Approaches 162
The Direction of the Global Political Economy 164
10 Globalization 168
Global Interrelations 170
The Growth of Globalization 173
Globalization and Economic Sovereignty 178
11 The Global Environment 185
The Global Environmental Problem 185
The Free-Rider Problem 188
Global Warming 192
Water 195
The Mediterranean Agreement 197
Global Environmental Policy 199
12 Moral Issues in International Relations 205
Introduction: Moral Arguments 205
International Law 209
Morality and War 213
Terrorists and Freedom Fighters 218
Nuclear War 219
International Societies 220
Human Rights 223
Poverty and Wealth 226
Conclusion 229
Index 234
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