International Relations

by Stephen McGlinchey

This book is designed to be a 'Day 0' introduction to International Relations. As a beginner's guide, it has been structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in the most accessible way.

Written by a range of emerging and established experts, the chapters offer a broad sweep of the basic components of International Relations and the key contemporary issues that concern the discipline. The narrative arc forms a complete circle, taking readers from no knowledge to competency. The journey starts by examining how the international system was formed and ends by reflecting that International Relations is always adapting to events and is therefore a never-ending journey of discovery.

Unlike typical textbooks, there are no boxes, charts, pictures or exercises. The philosophy underpinning this book is that these things can be a distraction. This book, like others in the E-IR Foundations series, is designed to capture attention with an engaging narrative. The chapters are short, with simple paragraphs and clear sentences placing the reader inside crucial issues and debates so they can understand how things work, and where they fit in the world around them.

Genres: Nonfiction, International Relations, Politics

238 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Daniel Clausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent introduction to the topic. Best of all, for those instructors who suffered from pandemic disruptions, this was an effective way to assign free readings to students. For that, I am immensely grateful. I highly recommend this textbook to anyone who is looking for a short, highly readable introduction to the subject.

[Sada Hussain Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As per introduction of the book, it is designed for “Day 0” students who don’t have a slight idea about the concept of International Relations. It begins from basic approaches, touches a bit of history then theory and the flow begins from individuals, state, regions and the whole world. It drives you through some questions that may come to your mind. For example, I never knew that the world International was first coined by Jeremy Bentham who was a British Jurist. This single piece of information made me explore further about Mr. Bentham and I came to know that he was a true liberal and science oriented individual who even liked his corpses to be used by scientists for experimental purposes. This single act in the direction of evolution made him a glorious person.

Historically, International Relations are given different beginnings. What I believe is that it has existed since the first humans were there. It is just a matter of access that nations hadn’t explored each other. The best ever example in this regard is that before Vasco De Gama Europeans were unaware of a route to subcontinent. As soon as he explored the Sea Route to reach South Asia, the trade began, so did the Chaos. Day by day evolutions led thinkers to establish an institution of Collective Security as human kinds saw the worst humiliating crisis. Alliances, League of Nations, UN, Regional Organizations and more are a product of this collective security concept. These days, environment seems to be grabbing much attention across the World.

These all things are included in this book. I forgot to mention that the theories are also given introduction such as liberalism, realism, constructivism, feminism, and more. An introduction to International Law, Global Political Economy, Diplomacy and other terminologies is highlighted as well. If you are a beginner and want to explore it from the beginning, do download and read this one, it’s free.

[Jedidiah Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read, it made me realize the world was so much more complex. It's hard to summarize but it made me realize there's so much factors that it's impossible to list them all that affect decisions made on the global scale: culture, history, the personality of the leaders, resources, geography, ideology and unspoken rules.

Not only that but it shows that there can be differing viewpoints and perspectives on a single thing, for example, one may see the global stage with a sign of optimism, that cooperation and peace will eventually give way or with a more cynical view; we should be wary and that everyone is acting in their own self interest.

Furthermore, there's always new and recent developments further complicating things, like the growing issue of climate change, nuclear weapons, terrorism and global inequality.

I think you could apply the concepts in this book to day-to-day life interactions with people too, it's all very complex. We have different upbringings, personalities, values and goals. Sometimes we make friends due to mutual benefit and similar values while we get into conflict because your self-interest conflicts with theirs and differing values.

[Boo (Harriet) Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic introduction to the idea of IR and the main concepts. Reads like a book, but contains all the information of a textbook but in a much more accessible way. I felt like the authors were holding my hand and telling me that I am going to be ok and I especially loved the introduction. I don’t feel like it needed the last few chapters, particularly the one on the US because I felt like it took up a lot of space without saying much but on the whole this was a super good introduction to a field I embarrassingly knew nothing about.

[Melania · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about this book is that it avoids unnecessary verbosity, so it gets the point across easily. Needless to say, because it is suitable for beginners, it does not delve in depth on the key ideas.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I'm definitely not a beginner in International Relations, I learned a few things and new perspectives from this book.
Some chapters were more boring for me than others, but the whole book was useful for me to refresh my knowledge. The chapter about food and food security was my favorite.

[Zohal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Muhammed KARAKUŞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uluslararası ilişkilere yeni başlayanlar için neredeyse bütün konuları içeren ve yazarın senle konuşurcasına anlatımıyla bir çırpıda bitecek bir kitap.

[Apoorva Misra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant,simply put and easy language.