World Politics: Trend and Transformation by Shannon L. Blanton and Charles W. Kegley offers analysis of the most up-to-date data, research, and contemporary events from today's international political stage. Students will understand what is happening today and why. A partnership with Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs provides additional coverage of contemporary issues. The authors present each issue in a thought-provoking way that encourages students to critically assess the problems, payoffs, pitfalls, and paradoxes of people's choices about the global future and the probable impact those choices will have on students in the future.
Chapter 1: Discovering World Politics09/12/2011
Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal and Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer discuss world politics. World politics is defined as the study of how global actors' activities entail the exercise of influence to achieve and defend their goals and ideals, and how it affects the world at large.
Chapter 2: Interpreting World Politics through the Lens of Theory10/03/2011
Simon Schama discusses realism. Realism is defined as a paradigm based on the premise that world politics is essentially and unchangeably a struggle among self-interested states for power and position under anarchy, with each competing state pursuing its own national interests.
Chapter 3: Theories of International Decision Making10/03/2011
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita discusses rational choice. Rational choice is defined as decision-making procedures guided by careful definition of situations, weighing of goals, consideration of all alternatives, and selection of the options most likely to achieve the highest goals.
Chapter 4: Great Power Relations and Rivalries10/03/2011
Devin T. Stewart and Harry Harding discuss hegemony. A hegemon is defined as a preponderant state capable of dominating the conduct of international political and economic relations.
Chapter 5: World Politics and the Global South10/04/2011
Parag Khanna discusses Second World countries. Second World is defined as: during the Cold War, the group of countries, including the Soviet Union, its (then) Eastern European allies, and China, that embraced communism and central planning to propel economic growth.
Chapter 6: Nonstate Actors and the Quest for Global Community10/04/2011
Ruth Wedgwood discusses responsible sovereignty. Responsible sovereignty is defined as a principle that requires states to protect not only their own people but to cooperate across borders to protect global resources and address transnational threats.
Chapter 7: The Threat of Armed Conflict to the World10/11/2011
Gideon Rose discusses war. War is defined as a condition arising within states (civil war) or between states (interstate war) when actors use violent means to destroy their opponents or coerce them into submission.
Chapter 8: The Pursuit of Power Through Arms and Alliances10/11/2011
Charles Kupchan discusses coercive diplomacy. Coercive diplomacy is defined as
Chapter 9: The Quest for Peace Through International Law and Collective Security12/05/2011
Marcus Noland discusses disarmament. Disarmament is defined as agreements to reduce or destroy weapons or other means of attack.
Chapter 10: The Globalization of International Finance12/05/2011
D.S. Grewal discusses globalization. Globalization is defined as the integration of states through increasing contact, communication, and trade, as well as increased global awareness of such integration.
Chapter 11: International Trade in the Global Marketplace12/12/2011
Joseph Stiglitz discusses the globalization of labor. Globalization of labor is defined as the integration of labor markets, predicated by the global nature of production as well as the increased size and mobility of the global labor force.
Chapter 12: The Demographic and Cultural Dimensions of Globalization12/12/2011
Nandan Nilekani discusses demography. Demography is defined as the study of population changes, their sources, and their impact.
Chapter 13: The Promotion of Human Development and Human Rights12/12/2011
John Ruggie discusses human rights. Human rights are defined as the political rights and civil liberties recognized by the international community as inalienable and valid for individuals in all countries by virtue of their humanity.
Chapter 14: Global Responsibility for the Preservation of the Environment12/13/2011
Simon Dalby discusses epistemic communities. An epistemic community is defined as scientific experts on a subject of inquiry such as global warming that are organized internationally as NGOs to communicate with one another and use their constructed understanding of “knowledge” to lobby for global transformations.