Theories of International Relations

by Scott Burchill, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak

The 5th edition of this best-selling textbook provides a systematic and comprehensive introduction to the main theoretical approaches in the study of international relations. While maintaining focus on the core theories and assessing the importance of theory in the study of International Relations, this edition has been updated throughout to take account of major events and developments, such as the Arab Spring and to reflect the developments in the field, including new material on neo-realism and neo-liberalism, post-colonialism and cosmopolitanism.

Each chapter is written by a leading expert on the theory, elucidating the concepts and its application to field coverage whilst maintaining an objective perspective in their evaluations. This text can be used as reference work for particular theories, or as a tool to learn the use and importance of theory, as well as the particulars of each school of thought.

This text is accessible to students on courses across the world, and it assumes no prior knowledge of any of the theories, making it the ideal companion as students begin studying theories of International Relations, whether at undergraduate or Master's level.

Genres: International Relations, Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science, Academic, Textbooks, Sociology

388 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1996

Reviews

[Moomen Sallam · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب ممتاز للمتخصصين لمتابعة اخر ما وصلت له نظريات العلاقات الدولية، ولغير المتخصصين للتعرف على كيفية تحليل العلاقات الدولة بعيدا عن نظريات المؤامرة، خاصة أن الكتاب يقدم الإطار النظري لبعض المفاهيم التى تستخدمهاالدول القمعية للتدليل على وجود مؤامرة ضد الدولة مثل نشر الديمقراطية والتدخل الانساني والحرب العادلة والعدالة الدولية والعدالة العالمية والتنمية المستدامة، ولامقاربات البيئية والنسوية لتحليل العلاقات الدولية.
كتاب للدراسة وليس فقط للقراءة.

[yun with books · Rating 5 out of 5]

International Relations for life.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

class text book.

it's dense but great supplemental material to understanding International Relations (IR) Theory. however, I wouldn't say it's intro material--someone who has zip knowledge of IR theory might have a painful time unraveling this one.

includes:

chart of IR acronyms

explanations of:

Realism
Liberalism/Kant
The English School
Marx/Marxism
Historical Sociology
Critical Theory
Post-Structuralism
Constructivism
Feminism
Green Politics
International Political Theory

[Rachel Matsuoka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found a few chapters (i.e. the ones that covered poststructuralism, feminism, green politics, and international political theory) to be revelationary and revolutionary. Other than that, though, I was over reading this book long before I was close to being done. I've read other IR theory books that are much more engaging. However the idea of shedding light on these underrated veins of IR theory is right on. Can't really say I enjoyed this book, and I look forward to selling it on Amazon. :P

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the more interesting schools of thought are missing from this edition, such as post-colonialism. Some of the articles are written in rather superfluous language, and many of them have big, redundant chunks of writing.

[Tara van Beurden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the prescribed text for a course I did last year for my International Relations Masters. It’s very readable for a text book, so needless to say, I read it, and quite enjoyed it. It gives a good summary of a variety of theories – I found the strong focus on the international relations aspect very helpful, so as not to confuse in my head these theories in their sociological context (where relevant!). I have come back to this book a variety of times while writing subsequent assignments (I was particularly glad I had read this book, and studied the related subject, when I started my International Relations courses for the recently completed semester, which expected me to have a solid grasp of the concepts set out in this book). I am also pleased that my decision to read the complete book, rather than just the prescribed chapters, paid off, as I topped the class! A very valuable read!

[Danu Poyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have noted, the chief value in this book is its treatment of less dominant approaches such as critical theory, feminism and green theory. These are well-written and researched and throw down significant challenges to the dominant approaches, which it would have been nice to hear responses to. Overall however it declines to draw any weighty conclusions or offer a synthesis regarding the discipline or its object of study from the various perspectives it surveys. Some will no doubt find this appropriate in a textbook; others such as myself may find that opting to take no position is still taking a position of sorts, and an ultimately unsatisfying one.

[أبو محمد · Rating 5 out of 5]

موسوعي، غير أنه مُعاب بشبه التغييب لنقاش الحوارات الأربعة ومعركة المناهج، وبالطبع -وهذا راجع لتاريخ وضعه- يوجد غياب للحوار الخامس في الحقل، والمتعلق باستخدام نظرية الكم من قبل أمثال وينت.
الترجمة محترمة صحيحة ليست مبعثرة، لكنها ثقيلة الظل كذلك إلى حد ما. مع التنبيه لأجنبية الفصل الأخير في ترجمته عن باقي الكتاب، وأكاد أوقن أن الدكتور صفار لم يترجمه، فالأغلاط كثيرة.
وهو، في العربية، أحد كتابين من الواجب على دارس العلاقات الدولية أن يكون حافظًا لهما.

[Alexander]

This is a valuable resource, primarily because most of the chapters are devoted to perspectives outside of mainstream IR theory (critical theory, postmodernism, feminism, et al.), although it covers neo-realism and neo-liberalism as well.

[Arys Aditya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ini buku yang menemani usia saya berkuliah di Hubungan Internasional. Sebagai pengantar teoritik, simulasi alat penelitian, dan referensi untuk melangkah lebih jauh ke teori yang diminati.
Kabar bahagianya, buku ini telah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Indonesia.

[Bchara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As somehow an outsider to the field, trying to form a certain comprehension of IR theories, i took on the endeavor of reading several books about the topic.

This book is a collective work, containing 10 chapters by several authors.
First remark: the difference in style between the several authors is very obvious. While some are able to present their ideas in rather intelligible sentences, others hide behind undecipherable formulas (mostly, the second half of the last chapter).

An other remark related to the authors: some are able to objectively expose their topic (for eg., the chapters on critical theory, postmodernism, constructivism), others seem too connected to it - and therefore less critical, while others, such as the author of the chapter on Realism, says upfront he is opposed to realism: this chapter was not convincing, as i had before read a collection of papers by Waltz, in which he answered - convincingly - criticism against neo-realism. This means some theories like realism took on a good bashing while others like feminism were barely criticized.

On an other side, as someone used to legal literature, what i found quite annoying is the focus made on authors, as if there is no way to study political science outside of author’s works. This shows clearly in the last 2 chapters, probably because these theories are more recent (for instance, almost a third of the last chapter is a review of one author’s book).

Maybe this book is destined to specialists, and requires certain prerequisites, i don’t know.
But in general, for a beginner, it is quite complicated, the treatment of the different theories is uneven (in style, in the degree of criticism, in the approach itself).
And the use of the very complicated terms and formulas (reaching their climax in the last pages on green theories) reminded me of a french saying: what is well conceived, is expressed clearly...

[Eric Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason Goodreads doesn't have the Fifth Edition listed, but the Third. Well the review is based on the Fifth Edition which is fine. The book has a lot going on with it, and sometimes it seems that the authors are just writing to strut on how intelligent they are. The points of the chapters are kind of not there and I found myself wanting to DNF this book but didn't because my Dad sent this copy to me and I was able to push through it. It has some good topics so all is not lost with this. Just expect it to go on and on and on in some places and that makes me glad that this book is done with.

[Probo Darono Yakti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku ini merupakan bacaan wajib bagi para calon sarjana maupun sarjana HI mengingat di dalamnya banyak sekali kandungan teori yang menjadi bahan bagi kita untuk memahami perdebatan yang membangun subjek ini. Mulai dari realisme, liberalisme, marxisme, perspektif neo, posmodernisme, strukturalisme, teori kritis, feminisme, hingga teori hijau. Penjabarannya memang cukup rumit sehingga butuh konsentrasi penuh dalam membaca buku ini. Alasan saya memberi bintang tiga, saya kurang begitu suka dengan versi terjemahan Nusamedia. Meskipun buku ini merupakan buku induk mahasiswa HI dan layak baca.

[Nguyen Le Dang Khoa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have covered a fair bit of this book, and it is definitely the right amount of nuance for me to get started with the scholarship. I have to say that while dense, it serves as a good "via media" between the more serious works of scholars and beginners in IR. Other introductory textbooks are either too easy (too illustrative or breakdown the topics to the point of lacking nuance or theoretical relation) or too non-theoretical. This is perfect for those needing to get used to theories but not knowing where to start.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would get five stars if it wasn’t for the fact that I need to use a dictionary to understand it and that it makes my brain go soft because the sentences are so complicated. It’s a shame because the content is so good but very inaccessible.

[Érica Corado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este livro foi recomendado para uma matéria que fiz para meu mestrado em Relações Internacionais. É muito fluido para um livro didático. Li e encontrei o que se espera de um manual de teoria de RI: dá um bom resumo das diversas correntes de pensamento.

[Fred Ysw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every student of IR should know this book by heart

[Ananya Rajput · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to read this book

[I McLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid intro to IR. Painfully lacking in the chapters on realism

[Tomislav · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s laughable how little the viewpoints presented in this book have to do with global relationships that you can find described in books dealing with diplomatic history or current affairs. I don’t know if this particular book is so bad, or is the whole academic discipline of international relations in such a poor shape. Most of the essays are moralistic polemics about all kinds of injustices and inequalities that exist in the world. They are also poorly structured and they don’t even give you a comprehensible overview of their ideological positions, but often just an array of pointless, loosely connected comments, criticisms, and references to other papers. If you’re looking for some theoretical explanations of what’s happening in the international politics today, don’t waste your time on this boring, worthless book.

[Rodger Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I assigned this textbook for my spring 2011 master's seminar on international relations. I've frequently used prior editions, though this version includes both updated and new chapters. The additions focus on Historical Sociology and International Political Theory. My students are typically frustrated by the abstraction and breadth of the field reflected in this book's offerings.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this was required reading for me, I do have some mixed feelings. On one had, it was great at teaching me these theories.

On the other, it seemed to repeat itself far too often & seemed unnecessarily wordy at times.

[liv (≧▽≦) · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for uni. pretty good in depth understanding of different international relations theories. super helpful especially for citations and referencing in essays. will definitely reach for this book again

[Cecile]

ha.ha.ha.

[Paulina Krumin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive overview of international relations.

[Bipin Kc]

its a valuable book for the research

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its on the theories of international relations

[Matiullah Shah]

i wanna read this book now and i will stay blessed forever....

[Muhammed KARAKUŞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Çeviri hayal kırıklığı