International Relations Textbook Pdf5/2/2021
The FP staff asked me to follow suit with some of my favorites from the world of international politics and foreign policy.What follows arent necessarily the books Id put on a graduate syllabus; instead, here are ten books that either had a big influence on my thinking, were a pleasure to read, or are of enduring value for someone trying to make sense of contemporary world politics.But Ive just scratched the surface here, so I invite readers to contribute their own suggestions.
Not only did M, S W provide an enduring typology of different theories of war (i.e., locating them either in the nature of man, the characteristics of states, or the anarchic international system), but Waltz offers incisive critiques of these three images (aka levels of analysis.) Finding out that this book began life as Waltzs doctoral dissertation was a humbling moment in my own graduate career. Robert Papes Bombing to Win and Wallace Thiess When Governments Collide ) but more than anyone else, Schelling taught us all to think about military affairs in a genuinely strategic fashion. The essays found in Schellings Strategy of Conflict are more technical but equally insightful). Scott pins the blame for these grotesque man-made disasters on centralized political authority (i.e., the absence of dissent) and totalistic ideologies that sought to impose uniformity and order in the name of some dubious pseudo-scientific blueprint. And its a book that aspiring nation-builders and liberal interventionists should read as an antidote to their own ambitions. Reading Scotts work (to include his Weapons of the Weak and Domination and the Arts of Resistance ) provided the intellectual launching pad for my book Taming American Power ). Arguably still the best single guide to the ways that psychology can inform our understanding of world politics. Among other things, it convinced that I would never know as much history as Jervis does. Clearly written, controversial, and depressingly persuasive. This book will help you understand where it came from and why it endures. But if you want some idea of what it is like to run a great powers foreign policy, this is a powerfully argued and often revealing account. And Kissingers portraits of his colleagues and counterparts are often candid and full of insights. Just dont take it at face value. Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation.
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