Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Joseph S., Jr. Nye (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321033272 | ISBN-13: 978-0321033277 | Publication Date: July 26, 1999 | Edition: 3

Written by one of the most distinguished scholars and lecturers in the field, Understanding International Conflicts is a text students enjoy reading, helping them to understand and think about the complex domain of international politics. The book deftly balances theory and history to help students develop a well-rounded, informed framework for analyzing current issues and dilemmas. Updated with the most recent scholarship, the third edition explores the international issues confronting us as we enter the 21st century. Understanding International Conflicts aims to provide students with the conceptual tools that will help them shape their own answers to the unfolding developments in our world long after exams are done.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

LONGMAN CLASSICS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

In revising classic works in political science, Longman celebrates the contributions its authors and their research have made to the discipline. The Longman Classics in Political Science series honors these authors and their work. Providing students with an updated context, each title in the series includes a new foreword, written by one of today’s top scholars, offering a fresh, in-depth analysis of the book and its enduring contributions.

UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS
An Introduction to Theory and History
Seventh Edition

Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

“Sometimes original scholars sound pedantic when addressing central issues of world politics; often policymakers speak in code or platitudes. Not so Professor Nye. As any reader will see, the work in your hands is lucid, direct, and concise. Reading Nye’s writing on world politics is like watching Joe DiMaggio play center field or Yo-Yo Ma play the cello: he makes the difficult look easy.”

–from Robert Keohane’s Foreword

Written by renowned scholar and former policymaker Joseph Nye, this text is a brief and penetrating introduction to the study of world politics. It deftly applies a combination of history and theory to evaluate conflict and cooperation among international actors, thus providing students a framework for understanding contemporary issues. From World War I to modern terrorism and information revolutions to global governance, Understanding International Conflicts is a highly readable survey that answers as well as raises compelling questions about the future of international relations.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He also served as a Deputy to the Undersecretary of State in the Carter Administration, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Clinton Administration, and Chair of the National Intelligence Council.

The new MyPoliSciKit for Understanding International Conflicts is a premium online learning resource that features multimedia activities to help students connect concepts to current events, including book-specific assessment, video case studies, role-playing simulations, mapping exercises, Financial Times newsfeeds, and politics blog. Log on to www.mypoliscikit.com to see a demo, purchase a subscription, or use your access code to get started.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Joseph S. Nye is University Distinguished Service Professor at and former Dean of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He also served as a Deputy to the Undersecretary of State in the Carter Administration, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Clinton Administration, and Chair of the National Intelligence Council.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Longman Publishing Group; 3 edition (July 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321033272
• ISBN-13: 978-0321033277
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, Post 9-11 Update, Excellent Adult Foundation, January 10, 2003

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (Longman Classics Series), Fourth Edition (Paperback)

First, it is vital for prospective buyers to understand that the existing reviews are three years out of date--this is a five-star tutorial on international relations that has been most recently updated after 9-11. If I were to recommend only two books on international relations, for any adult including nominally sophisticated world travelers, this would be the first book; the second would be Shultz, Godson, & Quester's wonderful edited work, "Security Studies for the 21st Century."

I really want to stress the utility of this work to adults, including those like myself who earned a couple of graduate degrees in the last century (smile). I was surprised to find no mention of the author's stellar service as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council--not only has he had full access to everything that can be known by secret as well as non-secret means, but he has kept current, and this undergraduate and affordable paperback was a great way for me--despite the 400+ books I've read (most of them reviewed on Amazon.com) in the past four plus years--to come up to speed on the rigorous methodical scholarly understanding of both historical and current theories and practices in international relations. This book is worth anyone's time, no matter how experienced or educated.

Each chapter has a very satisfactory mix of figures, maps, chronologies, and photos--a special value is a block chart showing the causes for major wars or periods of conflict at the three levels of analysis--international system, national, and key individual personalities, and I found these quite original and helpful.

Excellent reference and orientation work. Took five hours to read, with annotation--this is not a mind-glazer, it's a mind-exerciser.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars excellent intro book to International Affairs, November 10, 1999

By 

James Schoonmaker (Centreville, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (Paperback)

One of the few textbooks I truly enjoyed, Nye's Understanding International Conflicts was a clear, easy-to-read, and yet insightful book. Its focus is on the three levels of influence on a state's behavior: the interstate system, intrastate politics, and individual. It is one of the few entry-level IA books to discuss the effect of personality on the actions of a state. Even in my graduate-level seminars and papers, I found it to be useful.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book :), December 8, 2003

By 

M. B. Alcat "Curiosity killed the cat, but sa... (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (Longman Classics Series), Fourth Edition (Paperback)

The basis for "Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History" is, as the author explains in the preface, a course on international conflicts in the modern world he taught for a long time in Harvard. Nye says that the aim of the book is "to introduce students to the complexities of international politics by giving them a good grounding in the traditional realist theory before turning to liberal and constructivist approaches that became more prominent after the Cold War". I believe he excels at doing exactly that...

I found the book very interesting, and full of examples taken from history that made the concepts easier to grasp. Moreover, it takes into account the three levels of causation: the individual, the state and the international system. It also includes suggested reading material, that allows the reader to delve deeper in those subjects she/he finds more interesting...

The book is very well organized. It was a foreword, a preface, 9 chapters and an index. Each chapter deals with a main theme, and some related topics. The themes of the chapters are:

chapter 1:"Is there an enduring logic of conflict in world politics?";
chapter 2: "Origins of the great 20th century conflicts";
chapter 3: "Balance of power and World War I";
chapter 4: "The failure of collective security and World War II";
chapter 5: "The Cold War";
chapter 6: "Intervention, institutions and regional and ethnic conflicts";
chapter 7: "Globalization and interdependence";
chapter 8: "The information revolution, transnational actors, and the diffusion of power";
chapter 9: "A new world order?".

All in all, I strongly recommend this book to those interested in international relations... I think the author was successful in doing what he set out to do: he didn't want to give all the answers, he merely tried to help the readers to look for them. In his own words: "provide our students with conceptual tools that will help them shape their own answers as the future unfolds".

On the whole, a keeper :) Enjoy it !!!