World politics in transition / by Lennox A. Mills

This book is intended as a text for introductory courses in international relations, and it has been consciously planned with reference to their needs. It is directed toward two classes of students: those who want to understand contemporary world politics but will take no further courses; and those who wish to take a basic course for further specialization in the subject. One prin cipal problem in writing an introductory text is that international relations require an understanding of so many fields of knowledge that it is not easy to steer a course between simplification and unnatural oversimplification. The authors have many memories of beginning students who have been so con fused by a meticulously worked out exposition of a topic that they have been unable to distinguish between essentials and lesser details. Yet it is equally possible to "make a complicated subject simpler than God ever intended it to be," as was said of a clever yet unsuccessful general of World War I.

As far as possible, minor details have not been emphasized, in the belief that if a beginning text is made too encyclopedic it militates against the student's acquiring an understanding of the main outlines. We believe that this is adequate for those who want a better understanding of events as they occur, and that it provides the necessary foundation for the students who intend to go further into the subject and will deepen their knowledge as they take more advanced courses. For this reason the usual scholarly apparatus of footnotes has been omitted. Additional readings have been reduced to a num ber and type such as beginning students might be expected to use. This ex plains the omission of authors whose works would be essential for advanced. students, but which are unsuitable for an elementary course since they pre suppose a fair knowledge of the field. Sometimes the views of these writers are mentioned in the text without referring explicitly to them, following the general principle of the book that source references should be avoided. Al though we have expressed our opinions about the topics treated, our principal concern has been to open a path into the various fields contributing to the study of international relations rather than to present a philosophical position with regard to the subject We feel that the authors of an introductory text book should try to explain and clarify and not to urge a point of view. We have therefore attempted to give the student the basic facts which will help him to draw his own conclusions, rather than press our own opinions upon him. We have also tried, consistently with accuracy and thoroughness, to make the book readable and interesting.