Bringing together international experts to provide a comprehensive introduction to strategic studies, Strategy in the Contemporary World, Sixth Edition, is the only overview to critically engage with both enduring and contemporary issues that dominate strategy. Readers are encouraged to explore key debates and alternative perspectives throughout the chapters. A boxed "Debates" feature considers key controversies and presents opposing arguments, helping students to build critical thinking skills and reflect upon a wide range of perspectives. The new edition has been thoroughly updated to incorporate the latest developments in the field of strategic studies. A new Chapter 19, "The West and the Rest," explores the limitations and problems strategic studies face when dealing with security challenges in the Global South, stressing the importance of diversity in the field and the important contributions the non-Western world has made to international relations theories and concepts. Chapter 14, "Geography and Strategy" considers important developments in air power, maritime strategy and the rapid expansion of space and cyber warfare.

Previous editions published: 2002, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016.

Introduction : Strategy in the contemporary world -- Part I. Enduring issues of strategy : The history of the practice of strategy from antiquity to Napoleon -- The evolution of modern warfare -- Strategic theory -- The causes of war and the conditions of peace -- Strategic culture -- Law, politics, and the use of force -- Technology and warfare -- Intelligence and strategy -- Strategy and defence planning -- Part II. Contemporary problems : Irregular warfare : Terrorism and insurgency -- The second nuclear age : Nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century -- The control of weapons of mass destruction -- Conventional power and contemporary warfare -- Geography and strategy -- Humanitarian intervention and peace operations -- The rise of cyberpower -- Geopolitics and grand strategy -- Part III. The future of strategy : Strategic studies : The west and the rest -- Strategic studies and its critics -- A new agenda for security and strategy? -- The practice of strategy -- Does strategic studies have a future?.