Understanding International Conflicts

by Nye, Joseph S., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780321393951
• ISBN10: 0321393953
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-06-30
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Part of the "Longman Classics in Political Science" series, Nye's best-selling text has been completely updated with new discussions about Middle East politics, including the Israel-Palestine dispute and the Iraq war, terrorism in general and radical Islamic terrorism in particular, the global politics of oil, and much more. Replete with illustrative examples and written in a lively, engaging manner, this is a brief, inexpensive book that students will buy and actually enjoy reading. It deftly balances theory and history to help students develop a well-rounded, informed framework for analyzing the international issues confronting us at the beginning of the 21st Century.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD	xi
PREFACE	xiii
CHAPTER 1 IS THERE AN ENDURING LOGIC OF CONFLICT IN WORLD POLITICS?	1	(32)
What Is International Politics?	3	(9)
Two Views of Anarchic Politics	4	(4)
Building Blocks	8	(4)
The Peloponnesian War	12	(8)
A Short Version of a Long Story	12	(3)
Causes and Theories	15	(2)
Inevitability and the Shadow of the Future	17	(3)
Ethical Questions and International Politics	20	(8)
Limits on Ethics in International Relations	21	(2)
Three Views of the Role of Morality	23	(5)
Chronology: Peloponnesian Wars	28	(1)
Study Questions	29	(1)
Notes	29	(1)
Selected Readings	30	(1)
Further Readings	30	(3)
CHAPTER 2 ORIGINS OF THE GREAT TWENTIETH-CENTURY CONFLICTS	33	(26)
International Systems and Levels of Causation	33	(18)
Levels of Analysis	35	(2)
Systems: Structure and Process	37	(1)
Revolutionary and Moderate Goals and Instruments	38	(2)
The Structure and Process of the Nineteenth-Century System	40	(2)
A Modern Sequel	42	(1)
Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy	43	(2)
Liberalism Revived	45	(3)
Liberal Democracy and War	48	(1)
Defining National Interests	49	(1)
Variations in Foreign Policies	50	(1)
Counterfactuals	51	(3)
Plausibility	52	(1)
Proximity in Time	53	(1)
Relation to Theory	53	(1)
Facts	54	(1)
Chronologies: Europe	54	(2)
Study Questions	56	(1)
Notes	56	(1)
Selected Readings	57	(1)
Further Readings	57	(2)
CHAPTER 3 BALANCE OF POWER AND WORLD WAR I	59	(28)
Balance of Power	59	(1)
Power	60	(10)
Balances as Distributions of Power	64	(1)
Balance of Power as Policy	65	(2)
Balance of Power as Multipolar Systems	67	(2)
Alliances	69	(1)
The Origins of World War I	70	(13)
Three Levels of Analysis	70	(6)
Was War Inevitable?	76	(3)
What Kind of War?	79	(2)
The Funnel of Choices	81	(1)
Lessons of History Again	82	(1)
Chronology: The Road to World War I	83	(1)
Study Questions	84	(1)
Notes	84	(1)
Selected Readings	85	(1)
Further Readings	85	(2)
CHAPTER 4 THE FAILURE OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY AND WORLD WAR II	87	(28)
The Rise and Fall of Collective Security	87	(9)
The League of Nations	88	(2)
The United States and the League of Nations	90	(1)
The Early Days of the League	91	(3)
The Manchurian Failure	94	(1)
The Ethiopian Debacle	95	(1)
The Origins of World War II	96	(15)
Hitler's War?	96	(2)
Hitler's Strategy	98	(4)
The Role of the Individual	102	(1)
Systemic and Domestic Causes	103	(1)
Was War Inevitable?	104	(2)
The Pacific War	106	(4)
Appeasement and Two Types of War	110	(1)
Chronology: Between the World Wars	111	(1)
Study Questions	112	(1)
Notes	112	(1)
Selected Readings	113	(1)
Further Readings	113	(2)
CHAPTER 5 THE COLD WAR	115	(42)
Deterrence and Containment	116	(1)
Three Approaches to the Cold War	117	(2)
Roosevelt's Policies	119	(1)
Stalin's Policies	120	(1)
Phases of the Conflict	121	(5)
Inevitability?	126	(2)
Levels of Analysis	128	(2)
U.S. and Soviet Goals in the Cold War	130	(1)
Containment	131	(1)
The Rest of the Cold War	132	(2)
The End of the Cold War	134	(5)
The Role of Nuclear Weapons	139	(11)
Physics and Politics	139	(3)
Balance of Terror	142	(1)
Problems of Nuclear Deterrence	143	(2)
The Cuban Missile Crisis	145	(3)
Moral Issues	148	(2)
Chronology: The Cold War Years	150	(4)
Study Questions	154	(1)
Notes	154	(1)
Selected Readings	155	(1)
Further Readings	155	(2)
CHAPTER 6 INTERVENTION, INSTITUTIONS, AND REGIONAL AND ETHNIC CONFLICTS	157	(47)
Ethnic Conflicts	158	(3)
Intervention and Sovereignty	161	(8)
Defining Intervention	162	(1)
Sovereignty	163	(1)
Judging Intervention	164	(1)
Exceptions to the Rule	165	(2)
Problems of Self-Determination	167	(2)
The Vietnam War	169	(6)
Motives, Means, and Consequences	173	(2)
International Law and Organization	175	(10)
Domestic Analogies	175	(2)
Predictability and Legitimacy	177	(1)
United Nations: Collective Security and Peacekeeping	178	(7)
Conflicts in the Middle East	185	(13)
The Questions of Nationalism	186	(3)
The Arab-Israeli Conflicts	189	(3)
The 1991 Persian Gulf War and Its Aftermath	192	(6)
Chronology: The Arab-Israeli Conflict	198	(2)
Study Questions	200	(1)
Notes	201	(1)
Selected Readings	201	(1)
Further Readings	202	(2)
CHAPTER 7 GLOBALIZATION AND INTERDEPENDENCE	204	(29)
The Dimensions of Globalization	205	(5)
What's New About Twenty-First-Century Globalization?	207	(2)
Political Reactions to Globalization	209	(1)
Power and Interdependence	210	(1)
The Concept of Interdependence	210	(13)
Sources of Interdependence	211	(1)
Benefits of Interdependence	212	(1)
Costs of Interdependence	213	(2)
Symmetry of Interdependence	215	(3)
Leadership and Institutions in the World Economy	218	(4)
Realism and Complex Interdependence	222	(1)
The Politics of Oil	223	(6)
Oil as a Power Resource	227	(2)
Study Questions	229	(1)
Notes	229	(1)
Selected Readings	230	(1)
Further Readings	230	(3)
CHAPTER 8 THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION, TRANSNATIONAL ACTORS, AND THE DIFFUSION OF POWER	233	(28)
Power and the Information Revolution	233	(8)
Lessons from the Past	235	(2)
A New World Politics?	237	(1)
Sovereignty and Control	237	(4)
Transnational Actors	241	(9)
Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)	244	(3)
Transnational Terrorism	247	(3)
Information and Power Among States	250	(7)
The Information Revolution and Complex Interdependence	252	(3)
The Information Revolution and Democratization	255	(2)
Study Questions	257	(1)
Notes	257	(1)
Selected Readings	258	(1)
Further Readings	258	(3)
CHAPTER 9 A NEW WORLD ORDER?	261	(25)
Alternative Designs for the Future	261	(12)
The End of History or the Clash of Civilizations?	266	(2)
Technology and the Diffusion of Power	268	(2)
Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction	270	(2)
Transnational Threats and the Concept of Security	272	(1)
A New World Order?	273	(8)
Future Configurations of Power	274	(3)
The Prison of Old Concepts	277	(2)
The Evolution of a Hybrid World Order	279	(2)
Thinking About the Future	281	(1)
Study Questions	282	(1)
Notes	283	(1)
Selected Readings	283	(1)
Further Readings	283	(3)
GLOSSARY	286	(4)
CREDITS	290	(1)
INDEX	291