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



May 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

 “Combining history and theory, Kegley and Raymond have composed a clear and insightful primer for understanding great-power politics and interna- tional relations, past and present. Their lucid descriptions of the challenges faced by officials after World War I, World War II, and the Cold War are seamlessly linked to an illumination of the policy choices that lay ahead. This is a terrific text for beginning students studying international relations.” 

Melvyn Leffler
Edward Stettinius Professor of History at the University of Virginia

 “Citizens, and particularly future military officers, cannot begin to think about and study big questions and strategic issues too early. The Great Powers and World Order is an excellent introduction to these questions and issues and should be required reading for both civilian students and military officers in training.”

Dan Caldwell
Chair, Committee on Student Veterans and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University

“Informed and informative, The Great Powers and World Order provides an engaging introduction to international politics. This is the best available text addressing what is arguably the most important set of issues on the global agenda.”

M. Leann Brown
Professor of International Relations at the East China Normal University in the People’s Republic of China and Former Associate Professor at the University of Florida

“In this important book, Kegley and Raymond reexamine the pillars of world order at a turbulent time when global conditions are nearing a turn-  ing point of potentially epic proportions. The Great Powers and World Order brings historical perspective and theoretical analysis to bear on the impact of momentous changes—for example, climate change, cyberwarfare, the weap- onization of outer space, and, critically, a global arena that is no longer dom- inated by Western liberal values.” 

William Bain
Associate Professor of International Theory at the National University of Singapore and Coeditor of International Relations

“A penetrating and timely analysis of the collision course on which the great powers are heading, which uncovers the basic tenets of international relations in the context of the eroding world order.”

Alpo Rusi
Professor of World Affairs at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania and Former Chief Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of Finland and Finnish Ambassador Emeritus

“Prolific scholars and creative educators, Kegley and Raymond have published many innovative textbooks with original pedagogical features about American foreign policy and world affairs. The Great Powers and World Order goes beyond provoking students to think for themselves about the important questions regarding contemporary threats to sustainable international security. It also advances important concepts that reframe theories about great-power relations in particular, and international politics generally.”

Llewellyn D. Howell
Professor of International Studies Emeritus, Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University

“For an insightful interpretation of the threats to world order fomented by   the great powers’ return to cut-throat competition and rejection of multilateral cooperation, this evocative, compelling and accessible text provides pedagogical medicine. Highly recommended for all global citizens investigating inter- national politics.”

Roger A. Coate
Chair, Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and Paul D. Coverdell Professor of Public Policy at Georgia College

“This book illuminates the timeless obstacles to world order whenever the great powers ruthlessly compete for hegemony, as they presently are doing as they head into perilous confrontations. Highly recommended reading for all policymakers and students of world affairs.”

Pierre Gehlen
President of the Complaints Commission of the Luxembourg Press Council, and Former President of the District Court of Luxembourg

“Case studies of great-power rivalries since the twentieth century are deployed to exceptional pedagogical advantage to instruct students about enduring questions in today’s turbulent times. The innovative format forces students to think for themselves. This textbook is highly recommended for university courses focusing on this troubling topic on the contemporary global agenda.”

Shannon Lindsey Blanton
Dean of the Honors College and Professor of Government at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

“This is an outstanding book, covering critically important global issues which makes a significant and original contribution to the storehouse of available textbooks dealing with contemporary world affairs.”

Ole R. Holsti
George V. Allen Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Duke University, and President of the International Studies Association, 1979–1980

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1.

Chapter 5.

Chapter 2.


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