Theory and Practice of International Relations

The present edition is designed primarily to meet the needs of the college or university student who is taking his first course in the field of international relations. We hope that the book will also commend itself to interested citizens outside the academy. To serve the needs of both groups of readers, have tried to be conceptual rather than factual in our approach. This may persuade some readers that the book is too theoretical and that it provides insufficient cov erage of the day-to-day events in international relations that confront us all. Our response is that, in our judgment, it is essential to have a conceptual framework within which these day-to-day events can be organized in such a way as to make sense. We believe neither in the appropriateness nor, in deed, the possibility of a book which will automatically provide a short-cut to understanding and prediction in as complex a field as that which we are studying. But we invite the thoughtful reader to engage with us and with the contributors to this volume in an effort to organize the raw material of relations the countless events, occurrences, and happenings that crowd our consciousness, in such a way as to enhance our capability to understand, and eventually perhaps even to predict, actions and reactions in the field of international relations.