This edition explores the role of military power in the contemporary world and the changes that have occurred over the last decade. It examines the debates about whether there has been a revolution in military affairs and the future of warfare, given the phenomenal pace of innovation in electronics and computer systems, which is often referred to as cyberwar. It also considers the strategic implications of the changing structure of global politics and the role of U.S. military power in a world in transition, along with the continuing relevance of various theories of peace and security. This introduction discusses strategic studies, criticisms levelled against strategic studies, and the relationship between strategic studies and security studies.

This chapter introduces the text which offers a comprehensive analysis of world politics in a global era. The text examines the main theories of world politics— realism, liberalism, Marxism, social constructivism, poststructuralism, post-colonialism, and feminism. It reviews the main structures and processes that shape contemporary world politics, such as global political economy, international security, war, gender, and race. Furthermore, it addresses some of the main policy issues in the globalized world, including poverty, human rights, health (with particular emphasis on the recent global pandemic), and the environment. This introduction offers some arguments both for and against seeing globalization as an important new development in world politics. It also explains the various terms used to describe world politics and the academic field, particularly the use of ‘world politics’ rather than ‘international politics’ or ‘international relations’. Finally, it summarizes the main assumptions underlying realism, liberalism, Marxism, social constructivism, post-structuralism, post-colonialism, and feminism.

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