Essential Readings in World Politics

by Karen A. Mingst, Jack L. Snyder

The perfect supplement to Essentials of International Relations, this superb collection expands upon Mingst's text and complements all the books in the series. Designed to bridge the textbook and the series, Essential Readings in World Politics follows an efficient organizing principle: each chapter includes one seminal reading, a pair of readings that take up the same topic from two different perspectives (feminist, Marxist, realist, etc.), and one primary document. Headnotes help students make connections between the series and the readings, creating an integrated system for studying world politics.

Author Biography: Karen Mingst is an international relations scholar with expertise in international organization, international law, and international political economy. She has written several books and numerous journal articles, conducted research in western Europe, Yugoslavia, and West Africa, and served as president, treasurer, and vice president of the International Studies Association (South). Jack Snyder, Robert and Renee Belfer professor of international relations at Columbia University, writes on international security, international relations theory, and post-Soviet affairs and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on nationalism, comparative methods, and grand strategy. His books include The Ideology of the Offensive (Cornell University Press, 1984) and Myths of the Empire (Cornell, 1991). He is General Editor of the Norton Series in World Politics and the author of From Voting to Violence, the series' highly acclaimed first release.

Genres: Politics, Political Science, Textbooks, History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, School

614 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a collection of essays on international relations. Some where informative and interesting, others were too long and convoluted to be enjoyable. Obviously important because these essays are the basis for a lot of political thought today.

[Ike Sharpless · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be using this as a supplement for my upcoming Intro to IR class. Essays I'm planning to assign:

-Jack Snyder, "One World, Rival Theories"
-Thucydides, "Melian Dialogue"
-George F. Kennan "The Sources of Soviet Conduct"
-Hans Morgenthau, "A Realist Theory of International Politics" (Mearsheimer optional)
-Michael Doyle, "Liberalism and World Politics"
-Alexander Wendt, "Anarchy is what States Make of it"
-J. Ann Tickner, "Man, the State, and War: Gendered Perspectives on National Security"
-Sam Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations"
-Carl von Clausewitz, "War as an Instrument of Policy"
-Thomas Schelling, "The Diplomacy of Violence"
-Moses Naim, "The Five Wars of Globalization"
-William Easterly, "The Healers: Triumph and Tragedy"
-Amartya Sen, "Universal Truths: Human Rights and the Westernizing Illusion"

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually a very good textbook. With essential speeches and documents on politics from all time periods such as the Greek Wars, The Cold War, and our current Age of Terrorism. Contains all the essentials for students of politics.

[celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this collection- definitely would recommend for any student of International Relations (being a student of IR myself). Some of the entries are absolute beasts to get through, but the breadth of topics is top notch.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a good complimentary book to the mingst book on IR. thankfully, this is a more upbeat read. good compilation of essays.