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 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 global powers with emphasis on China, Russia, and their influence on other countries worldwide. Part II illuminates global conflicts, including ethnic warfare, the ongoing tension between Israel and Palestine, the Iran Deal and the issue of nuclear power, and perspectives on the Sunni-Shi’a divide. Part III examines sources of peace with readings that explore the future of the United Nations, European trade policy, development and issues of security, and the United States’ Mideast policy. The final part addresses global challenges, including international trade, economic development, global warming, and the future of democracy. 

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.