World Political Challenges

This volume focuses on several theoretical topics in world politics and analyzes prominent cases of global conflicts and their potential peaceful resolution. It covers issues such as the multiplication of nation states in the era of globalization, failed peace policy concepts in the 20th century, and the question of who was to blame for the outbreak of the Great War. The author discusses three influential patterns of interpretation of international relations and global events: the conviction that war is eternally rooted in human nature and history, the renewed interest in geopolitical thought and the theory of a clash between the predominantly religious-based civilizations. Finally, individual conflicts, such as the rebellion in several Arab countries, the potential war of intervention against Iran, the Indo-Pakistani-Chinese entanglement in the disputes over Kashmir and the present war in Ukraine are examined in detail.

Studies in History, Political Science, Geography, and Pedagogics in Marburg/ Lahn, Berlin, Bratislava, 1974-1990 Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, 1975-1993 Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology at the Goethe University of Frankfurt, 1993-2005 Chair/Professor of Political Science and Contemporary History at the University of Mannheim, Visiting Professor at the Universities of Copenhagen, Irvine, Cal., Vilnius, 1993-2009 Research area and project director at the Mannheim Centre for Social Research, since 2009 Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Goethe University of Frankfurt.