Overview

What makes for war or for a stable international system? Are there general principles that should govern foreign policy? In The Cold War and After, Marc Trachtenberg, a leading historian of international relations, explores how historical work can throw light on these questions. The essays in this book deal with specific problems--with such matters as nuclear strategy and U.S.-European relations. But Trachtenberg's main goal is to show how in practice a certain type of scholarly work can be done. He demonstrates how, in studying international politics, the conceptual and empirical sides of the analysis can be made to connect with each other, and ?how historical, theoretical, and even policy issues can be tied together in an intellectually respectable way. These essays address a wide variety of topics, from theoretical and policy issues, such as the question of preventive war and the problem of international order, to more historical subjects--for example, American policy on Eastern Europe in 1945 and Franco-American relations during the Nixon-Pompidou period.But in each case the aim is to show how a theoretical perspective can be brought to bear on the analysis of historical issues, and how historical analysis can shed light on basic conceptual problems.

Full Product Details

Author:   Marc Trachtenberg
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Volume:   138
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780691152028

ISBN 10:   0691152020
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   12 March 2012
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

Preface vii Part I: Theory 1 Chapter One: The Question of Realism: An Historian's View 3 Chapter Two: The Problem of International Order and How to Think about It 44 Part II: History 67 Chapter Three: The United States and Eastern Europe in 1945: A Reassessment 69 Chapter Four: America, Europe, and German Rearmament, August-September 1950: A Critique of a Myth 110 Chapter Five: The Making of the Western Defense System: France, the United States, and MC 48 142 Chapter Six: The Structure of Great Power Politics, 1963-75 154 Chapter Seven: The French Factor in U.S. Foreign Policy during the Nixon-Pompidou Period 183 Part III: Policy 245 Chapter Eight: Preventive War and U.S. Foreign Policy 247 Chapter Nine: The Iraq Crisis and the Future of the Western Alliance 281 Index 313

Reviews

[A] stimulating reconsideration of some of the central and already much-studied issues of the Cold War... Trachtenberg argues his case thoughtfully and interestingly. Contentious in parts, stimulating throughout, this is a book for historians and international relations scholars, especially those interested in each other's endeavours, and for a wider academic readership, too. -- Roger Morgan Times Higher Education

Author Information

Marc Trachtenberg is professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles. His books include A Constructed Peace and The Craft of International History (both Princeton).

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