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This course is to help students to understand the basic concepts and the major issue areas of contemporary international relations. It will focus on ideas about international relations and introduce major theoretical approaches in the academic study of international relations. The key theories and approaches to be examined include: realism and neo-realism; theories about war, security and the use of force in international relations; classical liberalism, globalization, neo-Marxist and critical theory approaches to international relations, and transformation in world politics. It seeks to provide not only an overview of the key theoretical debates, but also a ‘toolkit’ of concepts that students can use to analyze international relations.
This book is concerned with essential concepts and information in the field of international relations. It begins with a presentation of the approaches to international relations, reviews the historical context of contemporary international relations, and discusses the international theories. It then introduces levels of analysis- the international system, the state, and the individual, and expanded in a chapter on the state and the tools of statecraft. Then it moves to discuss the foundation of international relations- conflict and cooperation. The international political economy, international and nongovernmental organizations, human rights, and human security, are also examined.
Mearsheimer develops his own theory of international politics in this book, and he names it as “offensive realism”. This book is organized around six questions dealing with power. First, why do great powers want power? Second, how much power do states want? Third, what is power? How is that pivotal concept defined and measured? Fourth, what strategies do states pursue to gain power, or to maintain it when another great power threatens to upset the balance of power? Fifth, what are the causes of war? Sixth, when do threatened great powers balance against a dangerous adversary and when do they attempt to pass the buck to another threatened state?
This book summarizes current thinking on neorealism. Neorealism is a revival of the tradition that emphasizes the role of interstate power struggles in world affairs. It was sparked by Kenneth N. Waltz’s 1979 publications. Its supporters stress how much we can learn by focusing rigorously on the level of the international system, particularly by examining the effects of the distribution of power among states. However, Critics point out what they fell are neorealism’s shortcomings. In this book, you can read all voices from Kenneth N. Waltz, the supporters, and the critics.
This book is a selection of the essays published between 1990 and 2001 and written by Robert O. Keohane, who was known for his groundbreaking work in institutional theory in the field of international relations. These essays revolve around issues of interdependence, institutions, and governance in world politics, and are placed in historical and intellectual context by a substantial new introduction outlining the developments in Keohane’s thought. The 12 essays are divided into 3 parts. Part 1 focuses on interdependence and institutions. Part 2 focuses on law. Part 3 focuses on globalism, liberalism, and governance.
This book surveys the field of political economy. It treats political economy as the methodology of economics applied to the analysis of political behavior and institutions. The discussion covers voters, candidates, and pressure groups; legislative bodies; interaction of the legislature, president, bureaucracy, and the courts; constitutional theory; social choice; public finance and public economics; politics and macroeconomics; democracy and capitalism; historical and comparative development and non-democratic regimes; international political economy; international relations and conflict; methodological issues; old and new. The 59 essays range from micro to macro, national to international, institutional to behavioral, methodological to substantive.
This treatise was written by Lenin in Switzerland in 1916, and first published in Russia in 1917. Lenin sets out to explain, first, the real causes of the war were the expansionist character of imperialism, itself a product of monopoly finance capitalism; second, why Socialists had abandoned internationalism for patriotism and supported the war; and third, why revolution alone could bring about a just, democratic peace. Lenin argues that future wars were inevitable so long as imperialism existed, that imperialism was inevitable so long as capitalism existed, and that only the overthrow of capitalism everywhere could end the imperialist war and prevent such wars in the future.
This book collects 5 essays focusing on the limits set to modern politics by economic structures, processes, and activities. Istvan Hont focuses on the specific limit to politics set by the imperative need of modern nations to succeed in international trade. J. G. A. Pocock presents that the efficacy of modern politics has increased concurrently with the increase in the efficacy of economics arrangements. Frank Hahn believes that efficacy rises in the combination of economics and politics. Robert O. Keohane argues that liberalism has better effects in promoting cooperation, peace than the major politically-tested alternatives. John Dunn discusses general theoretical elements necessary for constructing modern political theories of institutions.
This book reports on one approach to the study of peace and war: the use of the scientific method to identify those factors that promote the outbreak of interstate war and those factors that promote peace. It is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 examines what has been learned about factors that promote interstate war. Part 2 examines the factors that promote peace, with an emphasis on the democratic peace and its critics. Part 3 assesses what lessons and conclusions can be drawn from the attempt to identify correlates of war and peaceful eras.
