Customer Reviews

The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations

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The organization of the work is excellent and many of the chapters (including those written by John Baylis) were clear, concise, and easy for a graduate class to follow. Unfortunately, other selections in the work are diffuse, rambling, or awkwardly-written. Moreover, despite an attempt to provide a balanced perspective on whether globalization is actually occurring, the work tends to support the globalization argument without providing strong evidence. Baylis' brilliant initial chapter actually presents a plausible case against globalization. Finally, despite the importance of nationalist and religious-based ideologies in motivating transnational behavior, these concepts receive less coverage than, for example, feminist theories. I had to construct an entire unit on Christian and Islamic principles of transnational relations from supplementary materials. Although I might assign Baylis' first chapter as required reading, the quality of the writing in the remaining 400+ pages is too inconsistent to be a good text.

This book helped me understand my initial international relations module at college. It is concise, informative and provides detailed analysis of key issues, and sets out typologies on how best to understand international issues.

Not to bad. It's a bit difficult to follow, but goes into pretty good detail.