| Synopsis: |
Conflict among nations for 45 years after World War II was dominated by the major bipolar struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War, states in differing regions of the world are taking their affairs into their own hands and working out new arrangements for security that best suit their needs. This trend toward new "regional orders" is the subject of this book, which seeks both to document the emergence and strengthening of these regional arrangements and to show how international relations theory needs to be modified to take adequate account of their salience in the world today. Rather than treat international politics as everywhere the same, or each region as unique, this book adopts a comparative approach. It recognizes that, while regions vary widely in their characteristics, comparative analysis requires a common typology and set of causal variables. It presents theories of regional order that both generalize about regions and predict different patterns of confict and cooperation from their individual traits.The editors conclude that, in the new world of regional orders, the quest for universal principles of foreign policy by great powers like the United States is chimerical and dangerous. Regional orders differ, and policy must accommodate these differences if it is to succeed. Contributors are: Brian L. Job, Edmond J. Keller, Yuen Foong Khong, David A. Lake, David R. Mares, Patrick M. Morgan, Paul A. Papayoanou, David J. Pervin, Philip G. Roeder, Richard Rosecrance and Peter Schott, Susan Shirk, Etel Solingen, and Arthur A. Stein and Steven E. Lobell. |