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The most popular reviews in /r/IRstudies:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Globalization-World-Politics-Introduction-International/dp/0198739850
Should let you cover the basics and gives a few interesting references towards more in-depth reading such as articles and books from the main authors of theories et cetera.
You could search for "Foreign Affairs" on Microsoft Academic and sort by citations. The results are shown here.
You will then get all results; these the top 5:
- Putnam et al. (1994), "Making Democracy Work" (24,383 citations)
- Houghton et al. (2001), "Climage Change 2001: The Scientific Basis" (10,486 citations)
- Diebold/Amsden (1989), "Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization" (6,063 citations)
- Huntington (1993), "The Clash of Civilizations" (6,036 citations)
- Krugman (1994), "The Myth of Asia's Miracle" (4,977 citations)
Start here....
Then pick out two to three authors per major theory.
I think the go analogy is more of a dumb down analogy for the reader on Kissinger part. Sun Tze would actually be more appropriate, however the actual book of war is short and thus abstract. There are some example, like the empty city strategem, which actually is alluding to the book of war.
Because the book of war is short and abstract, different reader will take different view on it, perhaps due to the reader existing perspective. HK is attempting to use the go vs chess analogy to highlight more the difference for people who don't understand Sun Tze.
EDIT: Typo. The book of war i was talking about is actually The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
Islamic State’s Goal: “Eliminating the Grayzone” of Coexistence Between Muslims and the West
https://theintercept.com/2015/11/17/islamic-states-goal-eliminating-the-grayzone-of-coexistence-between-muslims-and-the-west/
Here is a great interactive nuclear timeline that you might find useful:
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/170794/HCSS-Nuclear-Timeline/#vars!date=2029-04-22_19:41:41!
It also separates the events into different categories, and one of them is nuclear proliferation. Also, it has a list of recommended readings for nuclear proliferation and the other categories at the end (2014).
If you're interested in this question in terms of political theory/legal history, I would reccomend The King's Two Bodies.
It does a good job of laying out how legitimacy was understood in the early and high medieval period (for Western Europe), and ties that into some of the changes which paved the way for the understanding of the state in the Early Modern period as well.
I had the same issue after my BA, Making Sense of International Relations Theory was an interesting book that I still go back to occasionally. It is nicely split into all the theories and has multiple texts on each of them
Edit: formatting
There are plenty of introductional text books available which cover the basics of theories, their developments, and cross-discipline studies.
I can recommend this one - primarily because it is the one I have. Another suggestion would be this one. However, it is a very broad field so you need to specialise further in order to improve your job prospects. These books should be able to give you a nudge in the right direction, other than taking classes at your local university.
Such a good response thank you. Also check out Ted Gurr's Why Men Rebel for a good read on primary reasons for uprisings. I'm writing a book on the possibility of a long-term uprising occuring in the United States and his book contains great reference material.
I strongly recommend "Thieves Of State" by Sarah Chayes:
https://www.amazon.com/Thieves-State-Corruption-Threatens-Security/dp/0393352285/
While her focus is on Afghanistan, she also has great chapters devoted to Nigeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Kyrgyzstan.
Her overall thesis is a great one to consider for anyone looking at international corruption.
This is great, thank you!
What are your thoughts on this book, if you've read it? I'm trying to figure out if it will be useful or of its too outdated
Barry Posen has your back for the page limit- Restraint is 256 pages, lol
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restraint_(book)
Your best bet would probably be to compare/contrast Posen’s grand strategy to a polar opposite like Ikenberry, but Ikenberry’s books are such a fucking slog. Still though:
https://www.amazon.com/World-Safe-Democracy-Liberal-Internationalism/dp/0300230982
Brock F. Tessman´s book: International Relations in Action ,a world politics simulation sounds like it could be used to practice your analysis skills
"This hands-on exercise allows students to relate the concepts and issues at the foundation of global politics to the realities of international politics today. As influential leaders in the fictional world of Politica, each team of students governs a country with a unique history, geography, and culture. The teams must use strategy and negotiation to succeed - and survive - seeking to achieve specific territorial, security, and economic objectives. In the process, they grapple with a range of complex challenges: energy security, ethnic conflict, humanitarian intervention, environmental disaster, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and more. Students also pursue individual objectives based on the governmental post they hold - and quickly learn that self-interest and national interest are not always compatible. Teams are judged on their effectiveness in meeting stated objectives, but must also relate their practical experience to the academic content of the course. Toward this end, the book provides summaries, analysis, study questions, and additional sources of information for each of the theories and issues encountered during the simulation. Guidelines for instructors are also included. "International Relations in Action" has been tested in multiple courses, with students and instructors unanimously agreeing that it makes abstract theories practical and accessible, evokes an appreciation for the complexity of international politics, and generates enthusiasm for the study of international relations."
Edit: 70% is a 1st in the UK, if you're from the States or elsewhere.
Clifford Gaddy and Fiona Hill cover this in their book:
https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Putin-Operative-Kremlin-Geopolitics/dp/0815726171/
When he took power at the end of 1999, one of Putin's top priorities was paying off Russia's international debt, so he could have real freedom.
>I’m certainly not going to read the whole thing myself so sorry for being lazy
It's understandable to not want to read the whole thing, but you should consider skimming the section on slavery (pp 10-12) from the source text to get a sense of why it's generated such fierce criticism.
>"Many Americans labor under the illusion that slavery was somehow a uniquely American evil. It is essential to insist at the outset that the institution be seen in a much broader perspective. It is very hard for people brought up in the comforts of modern America, in a time in which the idea that all human beings have inviolable rights and inherent dignity is almost taken for granted, to imagine the cruelties and enormities that were endemic in earlier times. But the unfortunate fact is that the institution of slavery has been more the rule than the exception throughout human history." (pp 10)
That excerpt (and its wider context in the paper) is basically some of the most distilled slavery apologia I have ever seen. It scares me how much the entirety of the document reminds me of some of Erdogan's style of nationalism or of the Turkish treatment of the Armenian (and Greek, and Coptic, and Kurdish etc.) Genocide - minimize, deflect, and deny the level of harm.
Thanks very much, ~~I'll PM you a link its on academia.edu.~~
Edit: Here it is actually
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.
I would call it a foundational book. Also, if you are into the realist school of thought, Mearsheimer is an ace. Here he is dressed as Machiavelli
If you’d like a perspective from the other war in Afghanistan, check out Boys In Zinc which details oral histories of Russian soldiers during their foray: https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Zinc-SVETLANA-ALEXIEVICH/dp/0241264111/ref=nodl_
I would recommend Joseph S. Nye Jr. and David Welch's *Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation: An Introduction to Theory and History--i*t's what was used in my introductory IR class. One of the authors, Nye Jr., is a founder of liberal institutionalism, but in my opinion he gives a very balanced view of the various theories and the discourses between them.
I would recommend An Introduction to International Relations, it is one I have used before
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B074X9VFBL/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
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If you're interested in any specific sub-topics, most of the Oxford Handbooks are generally quite good.
not specifically on the belt & road, but on Chinese investment in Africa, there's also plenty of literature on the topic on Amazon/just a quick Google away
"The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein. Many top dog universities will indoctrinate IR, polisci, and econ students with neoliberalist theory. No alternative viewpoint is really given. Given, this is a broad generalization; this is what I have gathered from talking to many different friends who left for college, some at big name schools. The book is essentially an alternative history about the cold war era, with a focus on the development of our neo-liberalist world economy. Read it a few years ago and it blew my mind. Even gave it to a professor and she ended up buying one of her later books for our class. A must read for our generation.
It should be noted Trump is reported to have stated in an, as of now unreleased, interview that he will not adhere to the One China policy without concessions from China. That's...a dangerous stance.
As for recommendations, first it's cross-straits. But also China and Taiwan (Goldstein 2015) is a strong summary and starting point.
http://www.thediplomat.com is an excellent news site for Asian news, and CSIS/Brookings have excellent seminars (that they put on Youtube if you can't catch them in person) and free publications that discuss current events.
As a follow up to the above, after reading Mearsheimer do read Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith's The Dictator's Handbook.
Edit: I can also confirm Ikenberry's Liberal Leviathan is definitely one book to read on IR theory.
Actually, even the EU is a good example of what I was talking about. It's true the EU has surpassed the expectations of many and achieved a surprising amount of cooperation among previously perpetually warring states.
However, there is a limit to the degree of integration they can undertake. No European state wants to fully relinquish their sovereignty to the EU lawmaking process. A roadmap for slowly achieving this also doesn't exist, because there is no reasonable path to reach that "end state". For the EU to progress politically, there will have to be quite enormous shifts in European or world politics for it to occur. The book "After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order" by G. John Ikenberry covers the topic of the creation of new "international systems" in a lot more detail.
Auto-correct strikes again! The author's last name is "Tansey". Also apparently the latest version is written with another author. Here's is the Amazon link: Politics: The Basics https://www.amazon.com/dp/0415841429/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_jdluxb7ZK6711
International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction, by Cynthia Weber. Great book to get into the basics, as she compares the different theories and their fundamental assumptions with different movies.
I think the discussion here has been pretty thorough, but if this is a question which has been buggin' you, I highly recommend Buzan's <em>International Systems in World History</em> where he traces the development of international systems (defined as broadly as possible) back into prehistory.
This is relevant to your question because if we say that the global order in which we now live is a condition of our time, rather than an enduring feature of the international system, it makes sense to go back and look at how various international systems evolved.
Putnam 1988 is a seminal piece which has not only had a deep impact in IR, but also made diplomats more self-aware of their roles.
Or at least, that's what a civil servant at my local Ministry of Foreign Affairs told me.
Edit: There is also Joseph Nye's gig on soft power.