James N. Rosenau Bücher

Think theory is thoroughly removed from explaining international crises such as Bosnia, Rwanda, and Korea? Think again! James Rosenau and Mary Durfee have teamed up to show how the same events take on different coloration depending on the theory used to explain them. In order to better understand world politics, the authors maintain, theory does make a difference.Thinking Theory Thoroughly is a primer for all kinds of readers who want to begin theorizing about international relations (IR). In this second edition, realism (the dominant theoretical perspective in IR), postinternationalism (Rosenau's famed turbulence paradigm), and liberalism are treated together in a chapter that compares them along various analytic dimensions, which makes the book even more useful.In this new edition, the order and content of case chapters have been changed to better reflect the ways theory can be used to organize empirical material. The chapter on crises, which is now at the beginning, shows how systemic theories might cope with problems and evidence of a more local and temporally constrained nature. A chapter on the U.N. illustrates how systemic theories can cope with institutions, and the last chapter, on Antarctica, delineates how systemic theories can be used to generate hypotheses that then demand different kinds of evidence.

Who are these characters—Westfem and SAR, Tsitsi and SUKA, Mother Courage, SICC, and GORP—and what do they have to say about the state of contemporary international affairs? For a painless yet provocative introduction to some of the most ponderous issues in world politics today, consider this book of dialogues written by leading lights in international relations research, covering everything from the New World Order to the role of postmodernism in constructing an answer to the deconstruction of the Soviet Union.Global Voices develops as five different “dialoguers” spin out exchanges between and among such protagonists as the archetypal Senior American Researcher, his British and feminist counterparts, a thoughtful young Western feminist, her Third World alter ego, a concerned (but skeptical) citizen, and a set of postmodern personae as elusive as quicksilver. Youth and age, male and female, realist and idealist, science and art, Western and Third World—all find their voices represented here.Between the scenes, the characters’ defenses come down along with the Berlin Wall, and the dialogues unravel in tandem with American hegemony, the Soviet republics, and gender-bound visions of “reality.” This entertaining survey of issues, theory, and controversy in international relations is appropriate for readers both inside and outside the discipline, and is perfect for students who want to “listen in” on conversations that are reshaping the contours of international political thought as well as action.