Building Your IR Theory Toolbox: An Introduction to Understanding World Politics

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Concise yet comprehensive, Building Your IR Theory Toolbox provides undergraduate students with the theoretical framework for understanding events in world politics. It covers all the major IR theoriesrealism, liberalism, Marxism, social constructivism, feminism, and postmodernismalong with various iterations, including neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, and dependency theory.

Each chapter offers a discussion of how the theory applies to one or more actual cases in world politics, a wrap-up section with a key take-home message, and an annotated list of further readings. Chapters also include a Thinking Like . . . feature that allows students to view the world through different theoretical lenses. Written in an informal style designed to be engaging to the typical freshman or sophomore undergraduate, it is the perfect supplement for introduction to international relations or world politics courses.

Reviews

Building Your IR Theory Toolbox excels at its primary goalit provides students with a highly accessible, entertaining introduction to the field. The books use of informal language eases students into sophisticated theoretical perspectives, and its case studies ground those perspectives in real world examples. -- Michael Jacobs, Gordon College
A well-written, organized, and comprehensive look at the major theories in international relations gearedfor undergraduates. The text is challenging but written at exactly the correct level. I highly recommend this book. -- Christopher Cook, University of Pittsburgh

Author Bio

Eric K. Leonard is Henkel Family Chair in International Affairs at Shenandoah University.