Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation: An Introduction to Theory and History, 10th edition

Published by Pearson (May 1, 2019) © 2020
  • Joseph S. Nye
  • David A. Welch

Title overview

For courses in Introduction to International Relations.

A clear presentation highlighting conflict and cooperation among and within states

Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation provides a concise, insightful introduction to world politics in an era of complex interdependence. Authors Joseph Nye and David Welch provide a durable framework with which to analyze the current state of international relations. The text examines conflict and cooperation among and within states via lessons from theory and history.

The 10th Edition includes a new chapter entitled Current Flashpoints that helps students make connections between events in significant locations and the text's major themes.

Hallmark features of this title

  • The authors employ an analytical framework that combines history, theory and policy to help students fully understand the complexities of world affairs.
  • The authors introduce 3 major theoretical paradigms (realism, liberalism, and constructivism) and discuss how each can or cannot explain conflict and cooperation among international actors.
  • The text offers detailed coverage of international politics throughout 20th and 21st centuries. The authors survey everything from wars among great powers to the rise of globalization and complex interdependence.
  • Follow-up readings at the end of each major section steer students toward historically significant and/or cutting edge works on topics they've just encountered.

New and updated features of this title

  • NEW: Chapter 7, Current Flashpoints, highlights the places in the world where it is easiest to imagine serious conflicts between or within states. In addition to accounts of the history and dynamics of these flashpoints, this new chapter helps students make connections between events in each location and the text's major themes.
  • NEW: Learning objectives serve as a guide to the important concepts, issues and ideas that are discussed in each major section of the text.
  • UPDATED: New or updated chronologies make it easier to understand how complex events have unfolded.
  • UPDATED: An expanded and thoroughly cross-referenced glossary provides clear, concise definitions of key terms.

Key features

Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE for Revel (available for Spring 2021 classes)

Instructors, contact your sales rep to ensure you have the most recent version of the course.

  • NEW: Chapter 6 includes a new section on the populist turn and the fate of the “liberal international order.”
  • UPDATED: Chapter 7, Current Flashpoints, includes extensively updated discussions on a number of key contemporary topics. These include the war against ISIS, tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and growing threats to Communist Party rule in China.
  • UPDATED: Additional updates to the examples, data, figures and tables throughout the text ensure that the content is current.
  • NEW: Several new photographs and maps reflect recent events.

Table of contents

1. Are There Enduring Logics of Conflict and Cooperation in World Politics?
2. Explaining Conflict and Cooperation: Tools and Techniques of the Trade
3. From Westphalia to World War I
4. The Failure of Collective Security and World War
5. The Cold War
6. Conflict and Cooperation in the Post-Cold War World
7. Current Flashpoints
8. Globalization and Interdependence
9. The Information Revolution and Transnational Actors
10. What Can We Expect in the Future?

Author bios

About our authors

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.

David A. Welch is CIGI Chair of Global Security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.

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