Political Science

Notes: Understanding International Conflicts Understanding International Conflicts by Joseph S. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., New York, 1997 ISBN 0-321-01101-5 Review Copyright © 1998 Garret Wilson September 29, 1998, 6:00pm; September 30, 1998, 3:30pm • • How do you decide which book serves as a good introduction of a particular subject, if that subject is completely unfamiliar to you to begin with?

Available in: Paperback. LONGMAN CLASSICS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE In revising classic works in political science, Longman celebrates the. Description Written by renowned scholar and former policymaker Joseph Nye, Understanding International Conflicts is a brief and penetrating introduction to the study.

I personally use several criteria. First, if I am taking a formal academic course on the subject, I check the syllabus to see which book(s) are mentioned most frequently. Then, examining the book itself, I am impressed with those books that cover a wide range of aspects, make generalizations while at the same time presenting objections and alternatives to the ideas given, are understandable, short, and assume nothing is known by the reader about the subject. In the field of international relations, I find Understanding International Conflicts by Joseph S. Meets almost all of these criteria. Although the 'conflicts' part of the title may lead you to assume that the book covers only one aspect of relations between states, namely disagreements, wars, and other conflicts, Nye’s work covers a broad range of topics dealing with international relations in general. Indeed, history seems to bear out (see for more information on the pre-state aspects of human conflicts) that the relationships between states largely consist of conflicts and their resolutions; by enumerating and dissecting international conflicts and their reasons, one can start to form a broader framework, or theory about how states interact and how conflicts begin.

In this aspect, I found Nye’s assertion that his work is a 'dialog between theory and history' (ix) to be quite accurate, which is in my opinion one of the book’s strengths which makes it accessible to those with limited knowledge both of world history and international relations theory. Nye begins with a quick explanation of three forms of international compositions which in itself may come as a surprise to the many who have just assumed that there have always been countries similar to those of recent times and that they all interacted as they do today. In reality, the world imperial system illustrated by such examples as the Roman Empire is quite different than the feudal system of the middle ages (think Robin Hood) where peasants had certain obligations to certain lords or religious leaders (compare the economic situations in Economics Explained) that were had a separate existence from the political interactions of political rulers such as monarchs. Bosch Sms 7082 Manual Lawn.

The system most important in contemporary times is the anarchic system of states where there are many independent political entities when have boundaries marking a specific geographical region. Moreover, these states have more or less complete control (in theory) of what happens within their borders and do not have to answer to a higher political organization – hence the 'anarchy.' Modern international relations theory seeks to describe how the elements of this anarchical system 'live' with each other, if there is no higher authority than that held by each state over its territory. There are several approaches to describing how states interact; the two general positions covered by Nye are the realist and liberal approaches (4). Basically, realists see all interaction as being performed by and among the states themselves, with war being the dominant theme. Liberals, on the other hand, stress the fact that there are various other factors, such as international institutions (the United Nations, and Non-Government Organizations, for example), that influence relations between countries. The important point that Nye makes here and throughout the book is that neither position is completely accurate; the actual situation that exists encompasses aspects of both realist and liberal world views.