Progress in Postwar International Relations


Book Description

-- Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University




Communitarian International Relations


Book Description

Emanuel Adler is one of the leading IR theorists of his generation. This volume brings together a collection of his articles, including four new and previously unpublished chapters.




International Relations and Scientific Progress


Book Description

International Relations and Scientific Progress contends that a theory focusing on the structure of the international system explains a wider and more interesting range of events in world politics than other theories. Such theorizing appears to be out of favor as the result of the apparent failure by structural realism, the most prominent system-level theory over the last two decades, on any number of fronts--most notably an inability to anticipate the ending of the Cold War and its aftermath. This new book is put forward as the most comprehensive and innovative theoretical work on paradigms in international relations since the publication of Theory of International Politics, which created structural realism, more than two decades ago. With appropriate revisions, however, structural realist theory can compete effectively and reclaim its primacy. The first part of International Relations and Scientific Progress assesses the meaning of progress in the discipline of international relations, a process that culminates in the creation of a new concept, the scientific research enterprise. The second part reviews structural realism within that context and identifies a lack of connection between theory and research that links power-based indicators to international conflict, crisis, and war. This part of the book makes the case for an elaboration of structural realism by showing that a system-level theory based on structure has great unrealized explanatory potential. By comparison, the current overwhelmingly research oriented agenda on state dyads imposes severe limitations on understanding that are not currently appreciated. Part Three sums up the work and explores new directions, most notablyas related to empirical testing of an elaborated version of structural realism that focuses on both continuity and change in the international system.




After the Enlightenment


Book Description

After the Enlightenment is the first attempt at understanding modern political realism as a historical phenomenon. Realism is not an eternal wisdom inherited from Thucydides, Machiavelli or Hobbes, but a twentieth-century phenomenon rooted in the interwar years, the collapse of the Weimar Republic, and the transfer of ideas between Continental Europe and the United States. The book provides the first intellectual history of the rise of realism in America, as it informed policy and academic circles after 1945. It breaks through the narrow confines of the discipline of international relations and resituates realism within the crisis of American liberalism. Realism provided a new framework for foreign policy thinking and transformed the nature of American democracy. This book sheds light on the emergence of 'rational choice' as a new paradigm for political decision-making and speaks to the current revival in realism in international affairs.




Domestic Politics and Norm Diffusion in International Relations


Book Description

This book collects Thomas Risse's most important articles together in a single volume. Covering a wide range of issues – the end of the Cold War, transatlantic relations, the "democratic peace," human rights, governance in areas of limited statehood, Europeanization, European identity and public spheres, most recently comparative regionalism – it is testament to the breadth and excellence of this highly respected International Relations scholar's work. The collection is organized thematically – domestic politics and international relations, international sources of domestic change, and the diffusion of ideas and institutions – and a brand new introductory essay provides additional coherence. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of International Relations, European Politics, and Comparative Politics. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.




Testing the Value of the Postwar International Order


Book Description

This report evaluates the postwar international order's value, assessing its role in promoting U.S. goals and interests and assessing its measurable contributions to specific goals.




Gridlock


Book Description

The issues that increasingly dominate the 21st century cannot be solved by any single country acting alone, no matter how powerful. To manage the global economy, prevent runaway environmental destruction, reign in nuclear proliferation, or confront other global challenges, we must cooperate. But at the same time, our tools for global policymaking - chiefly state-to-state negotiations over treaties and international institutions - have broken down. The result is gridlock, which manifests across areas via a number of common mechanisms. The rise of new powers representing a more diverse array of interests makes agreement more difficult. The problems themselves have also grown harder as global policy issues penetrate ever more deeply into core domestic concerns. Existing institutions, created for a different world, also lock-in pathological decision-making procedures and render the field ever more complex. All of these processes - in part a function of previous, successful efforts at cooperation - have led global cooperation to fail us even as we need it most. Ranging over the main areas of global concern, from security to the global economy and the environment, this book examines these mechanisms of gridlock and pathways beyond them. It is written in a highly accessible way, making it relevant not only to students of politics and international relations but also to a wider general readership.




Idealism and Realism in International Relations


Book Description

The author argues for a revised conception of international relations that acknowledges the irreconcilability of realist and idealist theories, and concerns itself instead with important substantive issues.




Theories of International Relations


Book Description

International relations theory is a diverse and constantly evolving area of scholarly research reflecting the fluctuations in world politics. This volume brings together a number of the most important research papers published on this subject during the last sixty years. Divided into five thematic sections, this work provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of developments and debates in this area of study. Topics covered include the history and development of alternative approaches to international relations theory; the importance of domestic politics in shaping a state's foreign policy; the absence of a global 'government' and the meaning and implications of this 'state of international anarchy'; power and its role as a variable in international relations theory and the challenges of state security, war and peace. The introduction anchors the collection, putting the articles within the context of the evolution of this field to date.




International Relations Theory


Book Description

This is a major new edition of a highly-regarded textbook on International Relations theory which combines deep analysis into the diversity of thought within the major scholarly traditions and the guidance for students on doing their own theorising. Knud Erik Jorgensen analyses the nuances of the main contending theories and approaches, their philosophical underpinnings, and explains their use and relevance to different research agendas. This is all placed within the context of cross-cutting coverage of key current issues and debates; of the philosophical foundations of IR theory; and of why different theories are addressed to different research agendas. All chapters have been fully revised and updated, and a new chapter on the Human-Nature tradition has been included to reflect the changes within the field. This text is the most up-to-date and informative text on International Relations theory, and is an essential companion for all International Relations students.