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Great Powers and World Order
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Great Powers and World Order
Patterns and Prospects



February 2020 | 264 pages | CQ Press
Great Powers and World Order encourages critical thinking about the nature of world order by presenting the historical information and theoretical concepts needed to make projections about the global future.  Charles W. Kegley and Gregory Raymond ask students to compare retrospective cases and formulate their own hypotheses about not only the causes of war, but also the consequences of peace settlements. Historical case studies open a window to see what strategies for constructing world order were tried before, why one course of action was chosen over another, and how things turned out. By moving back and forth in each case study between history and theory, rather than treating them as separate topics, the authors hope to situate the assumptions, causal claims, and policy prescriptions of different schools of thought within the temporal domains in which they took root, giving the reader a better sense of why policy makers embraced a particular view of world order instead of an alternative vision.



 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
PART I: THE VIOLENT ORIGINS OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD ORDER
 
Chapter 1 Great-Power Struggles for Primacy in the Modern Era
The Westphalian Foundations of the Modern State System

 
What Are Great Powers?

 
Regularities in Great-Power Behavior

 
Contending Approaches to World Order

 
Building World Order in the Aftermath of Hegemonic War

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 2 World War I and the Versailles Settlement
The Origins of the First World War

 
The Armistice and Arrangements for a Peace Conference

 
Balance-of-Power Theory and World Order

 
Woodrow Wilson and The Liberal Tradition in World Politics

 
National Self-Interest Confronts Wilsonian Idealism

 
The Versailles Settlement

 
A World in Disarray

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 3 World War II and the Birth of the Liberal Order
The Origins of the Second World War

 
Planning for a Postwar World Order

 
Spheres-of-Influence versus Universalist Models of World Order

 
The Political Economy of World Order

 
A World Divided

 
Key Terms

 
 
PART II: THE FITFUL EVOLUTION OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD ORDER
 
Chapter 4 The Cold War and Its Consequences
The Origins of the Cold War

 
The Course of the Cold War

 
The Characteristics of the Cold War

 
The Cold War World Order

 
Beyond the Cold War

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 5 America’s Unipolar Moment
American Primacy

 
Primacy and World Order

 
Democratic Peace Theory and American Foreign Policy

 
Rethinking State Sovereignty in an Era of Globalization

 
Anticipatory Self Defense and Preventive War

 
The Twilight of Unipolarity

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 6 Unraveling the Liberal Order
Donald Trump and Conservative Thought on Foreign Policy

 
The Jacksonian Turn in American Foreign Policy

 
Power Without Principle

 
Key Terms

 
 
PART III: FORGING A NEW WORLD ORDER
 
Chapter 7 The Range of Great-Power Choice
Viewing System Transformation in Historical Context

 
Great-Power Options for Shaping World Order

 
Coordinated Consultation and World Order

 
Legitimacy and World Order

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 8 Rethinking World Order
Change and Continuity in Contemporary World Politics

 
Critical Questions for World Order in the Twenty-First Century

 
The Quest for World Order

 
Key Terms

 
 
Suggested Readings
 
Glossary
 
Notes
 
Index

This book highlights the complexities within the international arena, and forces students to critically think by putting them in the You Decide driver’s seat.” 

Nicholas P. Giordano
Suffolk County Community College

“Great Powers and World Order is a timely re-introduction to power politics in the international system. In an era when great power conflict of one type or another seems an ever-present threat, this text will help students to understand the origins and such conflicts, and ground their knowledge through thorough case-studies.” 

“Consistent analytical approach. Easy for students to grasp.” 

Geoff Allen
University of California Santa Barbara

“[The text’s] writing style makes it accessible to students, and that indicates a great potential for the book to engage students and encourage them to actually read it. The authors focus on the essential knowledge and there was no fluff material that can overwhelm students. I really like the section where it presents the notion that international relations really hinges on two things – maintaining international norms and preventing aggression. Such an important understanding and presented really clearly and succinctly."

Kyeonghi Baek
SUNY Buffalo State

“This historically grounded textbook will introduce students to the difficulty of establishing a stable world order. [An] historical based book that presents how realism and liberalism inform how world orders are constructed."

Charles J. Fagan
Western Carolina University

“This new textbook by Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Gregory Raymond brings an innovative approach to the teaching of International Relations, by interweaving historical facts with the theoretical concepts needed for their interpretations. This book can be an excellent supplemental book for undergraduate students, and a great introductory book for graduate students. As the authors stated, it can solve the problem of thinking critically and theoretically about the world order, by interweaving the presentation of ‘historical information and theoretical concepts needed to investigate its features.’” 

Adrien M. Ratsimbaharison
Benedict College

“A reader for students so they have pertinent information at their fingertips regarding the conflicts that have forged our world.”

Richard Arnold
Muskingum University

“[Great Powers and World Order] provides a clear chronological history of the events that led to contemporary opportunities and challenges for the world. A comprehensive text that provides students conceptual tools to make sense of the genesis and the shaping of the current global order.” 

Benn L. Bongang
Savannah State University

“It's a good, solid introduction to the study of IR on the college level. It provides all the necessary basic information students need to begin their IR study, and to allow them to concentrate their future studies in areas of greatest interest to them. It is a good springboard into a lot of different directions.”

Charles M. Swinford
Southern New Hampshire University

“The fragile foundations of our liberal world order that is based on rules and institutions are being shaken by the great powers’ rivalries. This book is must reading for all serious students of contemporary world affairs.” 

Olli Rehn
Former Vice President of the European Commission

 “The Great Powers and World Order provides an authoritative account of the nor- mative underpinnings of international security. The rules of the road founded on the liberal world order are now under attack, and normative and institu- tional restraints are crumbling. This book presents a cogent and instructive interpretation of the prevailing problems darkening contemporary international realities.”

Joel Rosenthal
President of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
Key features

Key Features

  • You Decide” boxes.  Each chapter contains a decision-making dilemma that asks readers to imagine how, as a policymaker, they would have made hard choices in certain historical situations. By examining world politics from this perspective, students will think about the global challenges that they will confront when new actors, issues, and controversies populate the political landscape.
  • Maps and time-lines. This book provides a series of case studies on the evolution of great-power rivalries since the beginning of the twentieth century. This book provides maps and chronologies of major events to assist students in grasping the nuances of each historical case.  
  • Charts and figures. This book contains numerous diagrams to illustrate the abstract concepts and theories presented in the text.
  • Key terms. Boldface key terms are included at the first reference in the text and listed at the end of each chapter in order to help students understand key concepts in international relations.
  • Glossary. All key terms are defined in a comprehensive glossary located at the end of the book.
  • Bibliographic essay. A list of recommended books and journal articles are compiled in the back of the book. 

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1.

Chapter 5.

Chapter 2.


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