Worldviews of Aspiring Powers: Domestic Foreign Policy Debates in China, India, Iran, Japan, and Russia

by Henry R. Nau (Editor), Deepa M. Ollapally

Worldviews of Aspiring Powers provides a serious study of the domestic foreign policy debates in five world powers who have gained more influence as the US's has China, Japan, India, Russia and Iran. Featuring a leading regional scholar for each essay, each essay identifies the most important domestic schools of thought--nationalists, realists, globalists, idealists/exceptionalists--and connects them to the historical and institutional sources that fuel each nation's foreign policy experience. While scholars have applied this approach to US foreign policy, this book is the first to track the competing schools of foreign policy thought within five of the world's most important rising powers. Concise and systematic, Worldviews of Aspiring Powers will serve as both an essential resource for foreign policy scholars trying to understand international power transitions and as a text for courses that focus on the same.

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Marisol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book! This is the kind of book that would be most useful if updated every few years because of changes in power of parties representing different foreign policy perspectives over time. By understanding the foreign policy debates within countries there is greater understanding of implications of election outcomes. The analysis stopped in 2011 so it's not representative of the current dynamics, but it's still quite informative for understanding how foreign policy debates have progressed over time within countries of significance to international security. It's also useful for understanding the evolution of contemporary perspectives. I would recommend this for someone who wants to develop a deeper understanding of changes over time but not for someone who is looking looking for one book to explain contemporary dynamics. I gave it 3 stars because it's outdated at this point in some significant ways (esp if you're trying to understand Russia and China better because there have been significant developments since 2011).

[Anil]

excellent