Publications

This collection of analyses of policy issues in international politics brings together two complementary approaches to understanding contemporary interstate relations, namely geopolitical thought and political realism. In so doing, it offers empirical examples that build on the insights generated by the abstract logic of both of those power-centric systems of thought by applying them to real-world issues and problems. This empiricist emphasis ranges over an extensive survey of practical policy challenges within contemporary international relations. The issues addressed include significant ongoing debates with regard to such fundamental questions as the authentic nature of the national interest, the impact of structural change on alliance relations, collective responses to interstate conflict, the policy arts of leveraging a weak geopolitical hand, the definition of the threat – particularly in the context of nuclear weaponry, international and continental vectors in security and defense policy, and the evolution of nuclear doctrines under conditions of technological and ideological change. A synthetic overview of the social-scientific credentials of International Relations concludes these analyses of policies as they have been formulated and implemented in current world affairs.