A History of International Relations Theory: Second Edition
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Book Overview
Torbj rn L. Knutsen introduces ideas on international relations expressed by thinkers from High Middle Ages to the present day and traces the development of four ever-present themes: war, peace, wealth and power. The book counters the view that international relations has no theoretical tradition and shows that scholars, soldiers and statesmen have been speculating about the subject for the last 700 years.
Beginning with the roots of the state and the concept of sovereignty in the Middle Ages, the author draws upon the insights of outstanding political thinkers - from Machiavelli and Hobbes to Hegel, Rousseau, and Marx and contemporary thinkers such as Woodrow Wilson, Lenin, Morgenthau and Walt - who profoundly influenced the emergence of a discrete discipline of international relations in the twentieth century. Fully revised and updated, the final section embraces more recent approaches to the study of international relations, most notably postmodernism and ecologism.Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:071904930X
ISBN13:9780719049309
Release Date:March 1997
Publisher:Manchester University Press
Length:368 Pages
Weight:1.25 lbs.
Dimensions:1.2" x 6.2" x 9.2"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Great Refutation
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
By examining the rise and fall of the Spanish, Dutch, British, French, and lastly the United States Knutsen, in my opinion, refutes some of the claims that have been directed toward the eventual fall of the United States as a world power. Knutsen shows that some of the theorectical claims in dealing with why major powers have fallen, and there is a solid basis as to why the theories are not entirely applicable.I do think and wish that to some degree, while he refutes the various theories and points out why they are not applicable in all of the situations that were addressed, that he had proposed a theory that might fit the various situations that were examined. Overall however, Knutsen's book is well written and even though it does address a serious topic in the realm of political science and international relations, he does make it so that the average person can read it and understand it. I recommend this book as a good overview as to some of the reasons great empires of the past have fallen and what maybe, we might expect in the future.
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