Georg Sørensen – författare

The most accessible, succinct introduction to the principal international relations theories, with an emphasis on how theory can be used to analyse key global issues.Introduction to International Relations and Global Politics provides students with a complete understanding of theory and how it applies to the real world. With comprehensive coverage of all major classical and contemporary theories and approaches, the text focuses on the connections between theory and current issues in international relations.- A truly accessible introduction to international relations, which demystifies the key theories, debates, and issues- Includes up-to-date examples to help students link theory to real-world developments- Encourages students to think critically by presenting the strengths and weaknesses of different theories and highlighting points of contention between them- Also available as an e-book with functionality, navigation features, and links that offer extra learning supportNew to this edition- The book has been restructured. It now contains an extended Part 2 on Major Global Politics (GP) Theories and Approaches. This new part - almost one-third of the book -contains chapters on Post-structuralism, Postcolonialism, Feminism and Queer Theory, and Green Theory.- A new Chapter 1 replaces the old Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. It carefully introduces the new structure of the book. - To make room for the new Part 2, substantial revisions have been made to all other chapters. The chapters on IR theories have thus been shortened and the chapters and issues in Part 3 have been reworked so that GP perspectives are included. - All chapters have been brought up to date in light of current events and ongoing debates in the discipline. The book contains many new text boxes and figures.

Recent years have seen a range of theoretical challenges to traditional notions of state sovereignty and a burgeoning debate about the power of the state in the face of globalization and new forms of governance. In this important new text, Georg Sørensen provides a systematic assessment of the contemporary state, steering a middle course between those who argue the state is in retreat and their critics. In so doing he sheds new light on just what is actually changing in the nature of sovereign statehood, on changes in the relative power of different states and on the changing relationship between the domestic and external aspects of state power.

Recent years have seen a range of theoretical challenges to traditional notions of state sovereignty and a burgeoning debate about the power of the state in the face of globalization and new forms of governance. In this important new text, Georg Sørensen provides a systematic assessment of the contemporary state, steering a middle course between those who argue the state is in retreat and their critics. In so doing he sheds new light on just what is actually changing in the nature of sovereign statehood, on changes in the relative power of different states and on the changing relationship between the domestic and external aspects of state power.

The collapse of the bipolar international system near the end of the twentieth century changed political liberalism from a regional system with aspirations of universality to global ideological dominance as the basic vision of how international life should be organized. Yet in the last two decades liberal democracies have not been able to create an effective and legitimate liberal world order. In A Liberal World Order in Crisis, Georg Sorensen suggests that this is connected to major tensions between two strains of liberalism: a "liberalism of imposition" affirms the universal validity of liberal values and is ready to use any means to secure the worldwide expansion of liberal principles. A "liberalism of restraint" emphasizes nonintervention, moderation, and respect for others. This book is the first comprehensive discussion of how tensions in liberalism create problems for the establishment of a liberal world order. The book is also the first skeptical liberal statement to appear since the era of liberal optimism—based in anticipation of the end of history—in the 1990s. Sorensen identifies major competing analyses of world order and explains why their focus on balance-of-power competition, civilizational conflict, international terrorism, and fragile states is insufficient.

The end of the Cold War gave rise to much talk of a 'new' global order and debate about just how new or orderly it was and would be. Attempts to analyse the nature of this order have been many and various. This important new text assesses the main approaches and offers its own analysis arguing that, while chaos and raw anarchy are not on the cards, each of the major domains of power - security, economics, institutions and values - contains elements of potentially major instability. Interstate war may be receding, but there are no simple solutions to comprehensive violent conflict inside fragile states, and the non-democratic great powers continue to have major regional ambitions. There is a global liberal market economy, but it is increasingly unequal and its financial infrastructure remains fragile and crisis-prone. There is a comprehensive set of international institutions but they are rather weak and in need of reform. Liberal values are nominally endorsed by most states but they are in internal conflict and make up no firm basis for a stable world order. Finally, world order is threatened from within because the social compacts, political infrastructures, and national economic capacities of many states will decline. This will have negative consequences for the willingness to bring about effective global governance. The result may be a destructive dynamic which might take us towards a Hobbesian world in ways which Hobbes himself had never imagined.