Approaches to international relations. International relations in daily life ; Thinking theoretically ; Developing the answers ; You decide ; In sum : making sense of international relations ; Where do we go from here? -- The historical context of contemporary international relations. The emergence of the Westphalian system ; Europe in the nineteenth century ; The interwar years and World War II ; The Cold War ; You decide ; The immediate post-Cold War era ; Explaining the end of the Cold War : a view from the former Soviet Union ; The new millennium : the first decade ; In sum : learning from history -- Contending perspectives : how to think about international relations theoretically. Thinking theoretically ; Theory and the levels of analysis ; Realism (and neorealism) ; Liberalism (and neoliberal institutionalism) ; The radical perspective ; Constructivism ; You decide ; Theory in action : analyzing the 2003 Iraq War ; Canadian views of the war in Afghanistan ; In sum : seeing the world through theoretical lenses -- The international system. The notion of a system ; The international system according to realists ; You decide ; The international system according to liberals ; The international system according to radicals ; Constructivism and change ; Advantages and disadvantages of the international system as a level of analysis ; The international system : a view from China ; In sum : from the international system to the state -- The state. The state and the nation ; Contending conceptualizations of the state ; The nature of state power ; The exercise of state power ; You decide ; Models of foreign policy decision making ; Challenges to the state ; The Arab Spring : a view from Egypt ; In sum : the state and challenges beyond -- The individual. Foreign policy elites : individuals who matter ; A view from Venezuela : Hugo Chavez ; Private individuals ; You decide ; Mass publics ; In sum : how much do individuals matter? -- Intergovernmental organizations, international law, and nongovernmental organizations. Intergovernmental organizations ; You decide ; International law ; Nongovernmental organizations ; NGOs : views from the former Soviet states ; The realist view of international organization and law ; The radical view of international organization and law ; The constructivist view of international organization and law ; In sum : do intergovernmental organizations, international law, and nongovernmental organizations make a difference? -- War and strife. The causes of war ; Categorizing wars ; How wars are fought ; Going nuclear : a view from Iran ; The just war tradition ; You decide ; Approaches to managing insecurity ; In sum: a changing view of international security -- International political economy. The evolution of the international economy : clashing ideas and practices ; The basis of the contemporary international economy ; How the globalized economy works today ; Critics of international economic liberalism ; You decide ; The key role of petroleum markets ; Economic globalization and regionalism ; Emerging challenges to economic globalization ; The economic crises : a view from Ghana and Kenya -- Human rights. Religious, philosophical, and historical foundations ; Human rights as emerging international responsibility ; The role of the international community -- IGOs and NGOs ; Specific human rights issues ; You decide ; Human rights : a view from the United States ; Women's rights as human rights : the globalization of women's rights ; In sum : a renewed agenda? -- Transnational issues : the environment, world health, and crime. The challenge of transnational issues ; The environment-protecting the global commons ; The environment : a view from Indonesia ; Health and communicable disease -- protecting life in the global commons ; Transnational crime ; You decide ; The impact of transnational issues ; Transnational issues from different theoretical perspectives ; Will transnational issues lead to global governance? ; In sum : changing you -- Glossary.