The Realism Reader - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415773571 ISBN 13: 9780415773577

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

The Realism Reader provides broad coverage of a centrally important tradition in the study of foreign policy and international politics. After some years in the doldrums, political realism is again in contention as a leading tradition in the international relations sub-field.

Divided into three main sections, the book covers seven different and distinctive approaches within the realist tradition: classical realism, balance of power theory, neorealism, defensive structural realism, offensive structural realism, rise and fall realism, and neoclassical realism. The middle section of the volume covers realism’s engagement with critiques levelled by liberalism, institutionalism, and constructivism and the English School. The final section of the book provides materials on realism’s engagement with some contemporary issues in international politics, with collections on United States (U.S.) hegemony, European cooperation, and whether future threats will arise from non-state actors or the rise of competing great powers.

The book offers a logically coherent and manageable framework for organizing the realist canon, and provides exemplary literature in each of the traditions and dialogues which are included in the volume. Offering substantial commentary and analysis and including enhanced pedagogy to facilitate student learning, The Realism Reader will provide a 'one-stop-shop' for undergraduates and masters students taking a course in contemporary international relations theory, with a particular focus on realism.

About this title

About the Author:

Maxwell School of Syracuse University, USA

Review:

"The Realism Reader is an absolutely superb collection of writings from the leading schools of modern realist thought and from their most prominent critics. It is perfect for the undergraduate and Masters-level classroom." Jack S. Levy, Board of Governors' Professor, Rutgers University, USA.

"Realism, as vital as ever, comes in more varieties than ever. In this single volume Elman and Jensen bring together the chief varieties of modern realism, clarify how they cohere and differ, and present some of the controversies that realists continue to provoke. The Realism Reader will be invaluable to students of international relations." John M. Owen IV, Taylor Professor of Politics, University of Virginia

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0415773571
• ISBN 13: 9780415773577
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 550
• Editor: Elman Colin