ABSTRACT

This textbook introduces students to the key changes in current global politics in order to help them make sense of major trends that are shaping our world. The emphasis on change in global politics helps students to recognize that genuinely new developments require citizens to change their beliefs and that new problems may appear even as old ones disappear. It is designed to encourage students to think ahead in new, open-minded ways, even as they come to understand the historical roots of the present.

Key features:

  • explains global politics using an historical approach
  • assesses several types of theory so that students become aware of what theory is and why it is necessary for understanding global politics
  • presents key aspects of global politics including the development of the nation-state, power, international law, war, foreign policy, security, terrorism, international organization, international political economy, the global south, the environment and globalization
  • extensive pedagogy to reinforce learning - student activities, visual materials, definitions of key terms and names, learning boxes, cultural materials, key documents, annotated bibliography and website addresses (support website with lecturers' materials, datasets and updates).

Introduction to Global Politics will be essential reading for students of political science, global politics and international relations.

part |2 pages

Part I: The Past as Prologue to the Present

chapter 3|51 pages

The world wars

chapter 4|49 pages

The Cold War

part |2 pages

Part II: Living Dangerously in a Dangerous World

chapter 6|39 pages

Anarchy, power, and war

chapter 7|51 pages

The changing nature of war

part |2 pages

Part III: Actors and Institutions

chapter 8|48 pages

Foreign policy and war

part |2 pages

Part IV: Global Issues

chapter 11|47 pages

International political economy

chapter 12|50 pages

The global South

chapter 13|49 pages

Human security

chapter 14|42 pages

The environment: A global collective good

part |2 pages

Part V: Peoples and Cultures in Global Politics

chapter 15|52 pages

Identity politics: Nationalism and ethnicity

part |2 pages

Part VI:And Tomorrow?

chapter 16|40 pages

Globalization: The new frontier