International Relations : The New World of International Relations

This introduction to international relations employs an exceptionally readable style that avoids jargon and abstract theory by blending basic concepts and vocabulary with a substantial amount of historical background and examples from current events. This readable style combined with new pedagogy allows readers to better understand how International Relations can and does affect their lives.Examines the many possible causes of war, ranging from human nature to aggressive states to international anarchy; Discusses the challenge of terrorism (especially the impact of 9/11 and its aftermath); Extensively covers the 2003 war and its aftermath in relation to oil and the Persian Gulf, the Soviet Union to Russian transition, Latin American and Africa, and Key figure profiles.For careers in International Relations, World Politics, and Globalization.

Most young people now enter college with little or no background in twentieth-century history. Ask students questions about its major events and you are likely to face silence. It is all news to them. But they cannot be blamed; they don't know it because they have never been taught. Accordingly, we take it as our task to do considerable backfilling in recent history, which we arrange largely by geographic area and use to illustrate one or more concepts of international relations. Many instructors have thanked us for this approach. Some new texts in international relations pay relatively little attention to history, leaping instead into the future. These are the "world-order" texts that, we think, implicitly argue the following: "The twentieth century was a horrible century that showed the worst that humans can do to each other. But it was only an episode in the maturation of humankind and has little to teach us. The twenty-first century, a time of global cooperation, ecology, and equality, is upon us. We must concentrate on it and not on the unhappy past." We find "world-order" approaches unjustified, or at least grossly premature. The world became more complex after the Cold War, which kept numerous problems suppressed or frozen. And the mechanisms to deal with these problems still depend on sovereign nations deciding if and when they want to participate. When people are determined to fight for what they believe is justly theirs, UN "peacekeeping" forces are useless. War--"contending by force," in Grotius's classic words--remains a part of international relations and cannot be wished away. Although we admit in the concluding chapter that war is losing its effectiveness in settling disputes, conflict is still the "stuff" of international politics. If world order does break out, rest assured we will be among the first to write a textbook on it. We begin in Chapter I with system change and an overview of the international systems that have marked modern history. The post-Cold War system still defies easy characterization.Multipolaris perhaps too general a term; we considerstratified, globalized, clash of civilizations,and other models, most of them with major economic components. The chapter also introduces the concepts of power, state, and sovereignty, which we believe are still fundamental to international relations. System change has touched almost everything in international affairs, not just the obvious--the end of Cold War bipolarity between the superpowers. Unfortunately, the changes have been hard to anticipate and sometimes have led to increased violence. In the Persian Gulf, a tyrannical ruler strove to expand his realm because his previous superpower patron could no longer restrain him. Economic relations among the major industrial blocs--Europe, the Pacific Rim, America--have grown testier; fear of the Soviets no longer holds them together under a U.S. strategic umbrella. Proliferation of nuclear weapons, a minor issue during the Cold War, has become a major issue. The United Nations, previously little more than a talk shop, has developed as a crisis stabilizer. We discuss these and other spinoffs of system change in this book. We believe that, because system change is occurring before our very eyes, IR is more exciting and relevant than ever. In this new world there are new threats to guard against and new opportunities to take advantage of. As in earlier editions, we are trying to awaken newcomers to the field to its fascinating and sometimes dramatic qualities, as well as acquaint them with its basic concepts and vocabulary. Toward this end we include feature boxes titled "Concepts" and "Classic Thought," as well as "Economics," "Turning Point," "Diplomacy," and "Geography" boxes. We also include "Reflections" boxes, which recall our personal experiences or ponder issues that affect students personally, to show that IR is not a