Blurred Visions--A Cram Course in Modern International Relations Theory

In its November/December 2010 issue Foreign Affairs magazine marks the twentieth anniversary of the end of the Cold War with a brilliant analysis by Richard K. Betts (Director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations) of what arguably are the three most important books on international relations theory published in the last two decades.  They are The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama (Free Press, 1992),  The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington (Simon & Schuster, 1996) and The Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John J. Mearsheimer (Norton, 2001).  I highly recommend Betts's essay which can be found here.  It should be required reading at schools of public affairs such as the one I attended.


Additional reading (this will NOT be on the test):  Check out "A Reading List for the Twenty-First Century" in the same issue of Foreign Affairs.  It's a list of sixteen books, each one recommended by a 'name' in international relations.


Helpful reading tip:  If you read on your computer screen but find all of the ads distracting and the white background a strain on the eyes, then try out Readability.  It's a widget you install on your computer.  It can reformat an article to eliminate the clutter and adjust the fonts and background color for more comfortable reading.