international relations: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

General

A comprehensive examination of international relations theory is James E. Dougherty and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Contending Theories of International Relations: A Comprehensive Survey, 5th ed. (2001). General discussion of international relations theory is also found in Ken Booth and Steve Smith (eds.), International Relations Theory Today (1995); and Paul R. Viotti and Mark V. Kauppi, International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond, 3rd ed. (1999).

Historical origins

Adda B. Bozeman, Politics and Culture in International History (1960), is a useful guide to histories and concepts of past international systems. Other helpful references that survey premodern international relations are Coleman Phillipson, The International Law and Custom of Ancient Greece and Rome, 2 vol. (1911); Richard Louis Walker, The Multi-State System of Ancient China (1953, reissued 1971); G.F. Hudson, Europe & China: A Survey of Their Relations from the Earliest Times to 1800 (1931, reissued 1961); Frank M. Russell, Theories of International Relations (1936, reissued 1972); S.N. Eisenstadt, The Political Systems of Empires (1963, reprinted 1993); and Torbjørn L. Knutsen, A History of International Relations Theory, 2nd ed. (1997).

Early development

Accounts of the early development of the academic study of international relations may be found in Alfred Zimmern, The Study of International Relations (1931); and Grayson L. Kirk, The Study of International Relations in American Colleges and Universities (1947). Excellent works that widened the scope of the field are Harold D. Lasswell, World Politics and Personal Insecurity (1935, reissued 1965); Frederick Lewis Schuman, International Politics: The Western State System and the World Community, 6th ed. (1958); C.K. Leith, World Minerals and World Politics: A Factual Study of Minerals in Their Political and International Relations (1931, reprinted 1970); Warren S. Thompson, Danger Spots in World Population (1929); Paul Radin, The Racial Myth (1934); Nicholas John Spykman, America’s Strategy in World Politics: The United States and the Balance of Power (1942, reissued 1970); Carl Joachim Friedrich, Foreign Policy in the Making: The Search for a New Balance of Power (1938); Brooks Emeny and J. Edward Ely, The Strategy of Raw Materials: A Study of America in Peace and War (1934, reissued 1944); Abram Kardiner et al., The Psychological Frontiers of Society (1945, reprinted 1981); Quincy Wright, A Study of War, 2nd ed. (1965, reprinted 1971), also published in an abridged ed. with the same title, abridged by Louise Leonard Wright (1964, reprinted 1983); and Edward Hallett Carr, The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations, 2nd ed. (1946, reissued 1995). Charles Jones, E.H. Carr and International Relations: A Duty to Lie (1998), discusses the relationship between theory and policy making in E.H. Carr’s writings.

Realism, neorealism, idealism, and neoliberalism

The theory of political realism is discussed in Hans J. Morgenthau and Kenneth W. Thompson, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, 6th ed. (1985), also published in an abridged version with the same title, rev. by Kenneth W. Thompson (1993). The idealist attempt to answer the challenge of political realism is traced in Thomas I. Cook and Malcolm Moos, Power Through Purpose: The Realism of Idealism as a Basis for Foreign Policy (1954); and John H. Herz, Political Realism and Political Idealism (1951, reprinted 1973). Among the most influential writings on neorealist theory is Kenneth N. Waltz, Theory of International Politics (1979, reprinted with corrections, 1983). Barry Buzan, Charles Jones, and Richard Little, The Logic of Anarchy: Neorealism to Structural Realism (1993), further develops structural realist theory. An excellent comparison of neoliberal and neorealist theories is David A. Baldwin (ed.), Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate (1993).

Democratic peace theory

Works on democratic peace theory include Michael E. Brown, Sean M. Lynn-Jones, and Steven E. Miller (eds.), Debating the Democratic Peace (1996); and Spencer R. Weart, Never at War: Why Democracies Will Not Fight One Other (1998, reissued 2000).

Decision making

Decision-making theory is covered in Richard C. Snyder, H.W. Bruck, and Burton Sapin, Decision-Making as an Approach to the Study of International Politics (1954); Glenn D. Paige, The Korean Decision, June 24–30, 1950 (1968); and Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, 2nd ed. (1999).

Psychological theories

Excellent introductions to the psychological and cultural aspects of behavioral studies of international relations are J. David Singer (ed.), Human Behavior and International Politics (1965); Otto Klineberg, The Human Dimension in International Relations (1964); Joseph de Rivera, The Psychological Dimension of Foreign Policy (1968); Herbert C. Kelman (ed.), International Behavior (1965); and Ruth Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture (1946, reprinted 1989).

Behaviourism and game theory

A convenient compilation of varied examples of the theory and research of the behavioral decade is James N. Rosenau, International Politics and Foreign Policy, rev. ed. (1969). Conflict theory and international applications of game theory are the focus of Kenneth E. Boulding, Conflict and Defense: A General Theory (1962, reprinted 1988); Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, rev. ed. (1980); and Anatol Rapoport, Fights, Games, and Debates (1960, reprinted 1974). Edward McWhinney, Conflict and Compromise: International Law and World Order in a Revolutionary Age (1981), studies the effectiveness of law in resolving disputes between nations.

Systems theory

An introduction to general-system theory in the social sciences is Walter Buckley, Sociology and Modern Systems Theory (1967). Morton A. Kaplan, System and Process in International Politics (1957, reprinted 1975); and Charles A. McClelland, Theory and the International System (1966), take different approaches to the application of general-systems ideas in the study of international relations.

Constructivism and normative theories

Constructivist approaches are examined in Vendulka Kubálková, Nicholas Onuf, and Paul Kowert (eds.), International Relations in a Constructed World (1998); and Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics (1999). Efforts to rethink normative theory and its relationship to the study of international relations include Yale Y. Ferguson and Richard W. Mansbach, The Elusive Quest: Theory and International Politics (1988); and Chris Brown, International Relations Theory: New Normative Approaches (1992).

International political economy

The extensive literature on international political economy includes Charles Lipson and Benjamin J. Cohen (eds.), Theory and Structure in International Political Economy: An International Organization Reader (1999); and Benjamin J. Cohen and Charles Lipson, Issues and Agents in International Political Economy (1999).

Robert Pfaltzgraff

Article History

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Add new Web site: LSE Research Online - On the subject matter of international relations. Jul 24, 2024
Add new Web site: FHSU Digital Press - Politics, Power, and Purpose: An Orientation to Political Science - International Relations. Feb 15, 2024
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Add new Web site: Biology LibreTexts - International Relations. Nov 09, 2022
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Add new Web site: Fact Monster - History - International Relations. Nov 30, 2012
Add new Web site: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Political Realism in International Relations. Nov 08, 2011
Add new Web site: Fact Monster - History - International Relations. Sep 19, 2011
Article revised. Jul 22, 2005
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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