Global Politics Reader: Themes, Actors, and Issues

Global Politics Reader: Themes, Actors, and Issues is a timely and enlightening anthology that addresses major challenges facing global governance. Students are challenged to analyze sources of peace and conflict within the complex web of interactions among contending global actors. The central role of power politics, international institutions, and law in global governance is emphasized.

The anthology is organized into four distinct sections that discuss and analyze perennial issues and areas of concern in global affairs. In Part I, students read about major paradigms and global powers with emphasis on the U.S., China, and Russia, and their influence on other countries worldwide. Part II discusses global conflicts, including ethnic warfare, the ongoing tension between Israel and Palestine, and the nuclear arms race. Part III examines sources of peace with readings that explore the future of the United Nations, development and issues of security, and Iran's efforts at cultural diplomacy and cooperation in Uganda. The final part addresses global challenges, including international trade, economic development, global warming, and global equality.

The second edition features new readings to ensure the anthology is as current as possible. New topical areas addressed include American imperialism, U.S. military intervention and public opinion, and cultural diplomacy between Iran and Uganda.

An engaging supplementary text, Global Politics Reader is ideal for foundational and upper-division undergraduate courses in world politics.

Ali R. Abootalebi is a professor of Middle Eastern and global politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from The University of Arizona. Dr. Abootalebi is the author of Islam and Democracy: State-Society Relations in Developing Countries, 1980-1994, coauthor (with Stephen Hill) of Introduction to World Politics: Prospects and Challenges for the United States, and has written numerous articles on Iran, Arab politics, civil society and democracy, and U.S. foreign policy.