Political theory and international relations

Sample

Zeev Maoz

In Domestic Sources of Global Change, Zeev Maoz looks at the relationship between domestic and international political processes at various stages of the life cycles of states. It considers how the way in which a state acquires independence affects its involvement in international conflict. It explores the relationship between domestic political change and a state's involvement in international conflicts. Maoz discusses how changes in the international environment of states affect their strategic behavior. Finally, the book considers both the internal and international determinants of domestic regime change. The study combines explanations using systemic, regional, and national factors to explain international behavior. . Maoz argues that intimate links exist between domestic political processes and international processes. By comparing three perspectives on global change - the systemic, which focuses on aspects of the international system that are beyond the control of states; the regional, which looks at the impact of characteristics of the region in which a state is located; and the national, which focuses on domestic political forces - the study shows how each of these perspectives offers important insights into the evolution of international relations. In focusing on major issues in international relations theory, Domestic Sources of Global Change will be of interest to students of comparative politics, international politics, and international conflict.

Sample

Nat Hentoff

For years now, Nat Hentoff has been the best-known lay guardian of the magnificent spirit and letter of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. His principled advocacy of free expression for all seems to be needed more than ever today, at a time of appalling assaults on expression not only by traditional opponents on the political right - those offended by what they consider obscene or radical or otherwise taboo - but also from the left - radical feminists calling for the suppression of pornography, members of minorities banning language they consider psychologically damaging, and various other proponents of so-called political correctness. These more recently minted censors are now to be found within such former bastions of free speech as the universities and even the American Civil Liberties Union. This urgently important book is not a mere collection of legal cases; neither is it a history of free expression or a polemic from either left or right. It is rather a wide-ranging report on - and analysis of - the many kinds of conflicts throughout our country between the illusion that this is a land of unfettered free speech and the reality when that illusion is acted upon. It is a book of many stories - of the continuing efforts to deprive students of Mark Twain's masterpiece, Huckleberry Finn, and of attempts to deprive other students of the right not to read books that offend them; of the well-intentioned rulings that result in speech codes and loyalty oaths; of the wide-spread lack of understanding, over the years, of such basic concepts as the marketplace of ideas and of the overriding value of untrammeled speech. Free Speech for Me - But Not for Thee is a book about fear, duplicity, some courage, a lot of hypocrisy, and a good deal of irony. It is a book of dramatic confrontations, of people acting, for better or for worse, on one of the most important of our domestic battlefields. And above all, it presents hopeful, practical suggestions for ways toward saving perhaps the most fragile of our cherished freedoms.

Sample

Andrei Lankov

"Andrei Lankov has gone where few outsiders have ever been. A native of the former Soviet Union, he lived as an exchange student in North Korea in the 1980s. He has studied it for his entire career, using his fluency in Korean and personal contacts to build a rich, nuanced understanding. In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state. After providing an accessible history of the nation, he turns his focus to what North Korea is, what its leadership thinks, and how its people cope with living in such an oppressive and poor place. He argues that North Korea is not irrational, and nothing shows this better than its continuing survival against all odds. A living political fossil, it clings to existence in the face of limited resources and a zombie economy, manipulating great powers despite its weakness. Its leaders are not ideological zealots or madmen, but perhaps the best practitioners of Machiavellian politics that can be found in the modern world. Even though they preside over a failed state, they have successfully used diplomacy-including nuclear threats-to extract support from other nations. But while the people in charge have been ruthless and successful in holding on to power, Lankov goes on to argue that this cannot continue forever, since the old system is slowly falling apart. In the long run, with or without reform, the regime is unsustainable. Lankov contends that reforms, if attempted, will trigger a dramatic implosion of the regime. They will not prolong its existence. Based on vast expertise, this book reveals how average North Koreans live, how their leaders rule, and how both survive"--

Sample

E.H. Kossmann

"What political theories did the Dutch develop in the seventeenth century, to describe and justify the existence of a republic that in one generation had grown conspicuously in wealth and power? In this book, the author shows the meaning of political philosophy for a new and surprisingly energetic state." "The first essay is a study of Dutch political theory in the seventeenth century and is based on an analysis of publications in law and philosophy dating from the 1660s to the 1690s. The second essay studies the Dutch concept of popular sovereignty in the early seventeenth century, whereas the third considers the Dutch seventeenth and eighteenth-century views on the nature of a republic. These three essays, previously published as independent articles, are brought together here for the first time in English. An introduction has been added in which the author places the original texts in a new perspective"--Book jacket.