International Relations: ACCESS BOOKS

What can postcolonialism tell us about international relations? What can international relations tell us about postcolonialism? In recent years, postcolonial perspectives and insights have challenged our conventional understanding of international politics. Postcolonial Theory and International Relations is the first book to provide a comprehensive and accessible survey of how postcolonialism radically alters our understanding of international relations. Each chapter is written by a leading international scholar and looks at the core components of international relations -- theories, the nation, geopolitics, international law, war, international political economy, sovereignty, religion, nationalism, Empire etc. -- through a postcolonial lens. In so doing it provides students with a valuable insight into the challenges that postcolonialism poses to our understanding of global politics.

International Relations emerged as a distinct academic discipline in the early twentieth century as scholars and practitioners sought to address the causes of war and conditions for peace in a systematic and sustained way. Its philosophic foundations, however, draw on centuries of thinking about human nature, political authority and obligation, justice and injustice, and their implications for relations within and between political communities. Since then, IR has become one of the most important and dynamic fields of academic study in the contemporary period.

Updated in its 10th edition, International Relations is praised for being the most current and comprehensive introduction to international relations theory as well as security, economic, and global issues. Thoroughly updated to cover world affairs through 2012, this survey text explores relations among states and the influence of transnational actors and events. Applying a broad range of theoretical perspectives to show readers how to analyze current events, International Relations offers the best tools for understanding what is happening in the world today.

Combining extensive commentary by the authors and excerpts from original scholarship, International Relations Theory evaluates all the major theoretical perspectives that political scientists use to analyze world politics.

This unique survey/reader not only looks at classic international relations theory but takes into account changes in the world and important developments in the field. Highly regarded for its lucid and comprehensive coverage, International Relations Theory explains the role of theory in studying world politics and invites readers to critically engage the field's many controversies.