This hugely successful global history of the twentieth century is written by four prominent international historians for first-year undergraduate level and upward.
Using their thematic and regional expertise, the authors have produced an authoritative yet accessible and seamless account of the history of international relations in the last century, covering events in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. They focus on the history of relations between states and on the broad ideological, economic and cultural forces that have influenced the evolution of international politics over the past one hundred years.
The third edition is thoroughly updated throughout to take account of the most recent research and global developments, and includes a new chapter on the international history of human rights and its advocacy organizations, including NGOs.
Additional new features include:
New material on the Arab Spring, including specific focus on Libya and Syria
Increased debate on the question of US decline and the rise of China.
A timeline to give increased context to those studying the topic for the first time.
A fully revised companion website including links to further resources and self-testing material can be found at www.routledge.com/cw/best
Antony Best is Associate Professor in International History at the London School of Economics. Jussi M. Hanhimäki is Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. Joseph A. Maiolo is Professor of International History at the Department of War Studies, Kings College London. Kirsten E. Schulze is Associate Professor in International History at the London School of Economics.
List of illustrations. Notes on authors. Acknowledgements. Note on the
text. List of abbreviations. Visual tour. INTRODUCTION. The third edition.
The second edition. Introduction to the twentieth century.
1. GREAT POWER
RIVALRY AND THE WORLD WAR,
19001917. Introduction. The Great Powers, power
politics and the states system. The long-term causes of the First World War.
From one crisis to the next,
190513. 1914: decisions for war. The triple
stalemate. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
2. THE SEARCH FOR EUROPEAN
STABILITY,
191729. Introduction. The new diplomacy. The armistice. The
Paris peace settlement. The Paris peace settlement in Central and Eastern
Europe. The implementation of the peace. The Locarno era. Conclusion.
Recommended reading.
3. JAPAN, CHINA AND THE ORIGINS OF THE PACIFIC WAR,
190041. Introduction. The First World War in East Asia. The Washington
Conference. Chinese nationalism and the Northern Expedition. The Manchurian
Crisis. Japans Monroe Doctrine for East Asia. The Sino-Japanese War.
Towards the Pacific War. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
4. THE EUROPEAN
COLONIAL EMPIRES,
190045. Introduction. Empires and power. Ireland and the
British Dominions. Empire and nationalism in the Middle East. India in
crisis. Rationalization and resistance in South-East Asia. The colonial
empires in Africa. The Second World War and empire. Conclusion. Recommended
reading.
5. THE ORIGINS OF THE ARABISRAELI CONFLICT,
190048. Introduction.
The origins and development of Zionism. Palestinian nationalism. The
twice-promised land. The mandate and British policy. Palestine and the Second
World War. Partition and the end of the mandate. Arab and Zionist
institution-building. The 1948 war. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
6. GOOD
NEIGHBORS? THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS,
190045. Introduction. The
Monroe Doctrine and the imperial thrust. The SpanishAmerican War. Theodore
Roosevelt and the American empire. Woodrow Wilson, the First World War and
the Americas. Wilsonian visions defeated. From boom to bust. From gunboat
diplomacy to the Good Neighbor policy. Pan-Americanism and the approach of
war. The Second World War and the Monroe Doctrine. Conclusion. Recommended
reading.
7. THE PATH TO EUROPEAN WAR,
193039. Introduction. The dual crisis.
The collapse of the Weimar Republic. Revolution and expansion. Diplomacy and
deterrence. Isolation and co-existence. From Munich to European war.
Conclusion. Recommended reading.
8. THE SECOND WORLD WAR,
194045.
Introduction. From European war to World War. The Axis at war. The Grand
Alliance at war. The collapse of the Grand Alliance. Conclusion. Recommended
reading.
9. THE FIRST COLD WAR IN EUROPE,
194561. Introduction. The German
question. From takeovers to conformity: the USSR and Eastern Europe. The
United States, containment and Western Europe. On every front. Stability and
revolts. A wasting asset? Nuclear weapons. Culture and propaganda. The Berlin
Wall. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
10. ASIA IN TURMOIL: NATIONALISM,
REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF THE COLD WAR,
194553. Introduction. The end of
the Raj. Nationalism and independence in South-East Asia. The Chinese Civil
War. China, Japan and the Cold War in Asia. The Korean War. Asia and the
consequences of the Korean War. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
11. FROM
COLD WAR TO DÉTENTE,
196279. Introduction. The Cuban Missile Crisis. Towards
the world of MAD. France, Germany and the origins of European détente.
Trouble in the Soviet bloc. Triangular diplomacy and the two détentes.
Détente in trouble: Watergate, Angola and the Horn of Africa. The death of
détente: SALT II and Afghanistan. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
12. THE
VIETNAM WARS,
194579. Introduction. The origins of the conflict and the
first Indochina War. Divided Vietnam and American nation-building. The
Americanization of the Vietnam War. Peace and unification. Indochina in
turmoil after
1975. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
13. NEUTRALISM,
DEVELOPMENT AND THE RISE OF THE THIRD WORLD,
19452014. Introduction.
Neutrality in Cold War Europe. India and the path to Bandung. The birth of
the Non-Aligned Movement. Development and the Group of
77. The fragmentation
of the Third World. The environment, sustainable development and climate
change. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
14. THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATES:
JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND TAIWAN,
19452014. Introduction. The American
occupation of Japan. The 1955 system and the revision of the Security
Treaty. High-speed growth and its discontents. Japan as an economic
superpower. Post-bubble Japan. South Korea and Taiwan. Conclusion.
Recommended reading.
15. THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND NORTH KOREA:
IDEOLOGY AND NATIONALISM,
19492014. Introduction. The rise and decline of
the Sino-Soviet alliance. Revolutionary China and the Third World. The
opening to America and the death of Mao. Deng and the Four Modernizations.
Tiananmen and after: the rise to global prominence. North Korea: the last
Stalinist state. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
16. THE UNITED STATES AND
LATIN AMERICA,
19452014. Introduction. Hemispheric unity, internal
dislocation. Guatemala. The Cuban Revolution. The Alliance for Progress.
Revolutionaries and reformers from Chile to Nicaragua. Into the new
millennium: an age of uncertainty. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
17.
AFRICA: DECOLONIZATION AND INDEPENDENCE,
19452014. Introduction. The end of
empire. The rise and fall of pan-Africanism. Imperialism and white rule in
southern Africa. The Cold War in Africa. The end of apartheid in South
Africa. The African state and the legacy of empire. Poverty, resources and
the troubled road to democracy. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
18. THE
ARABISRAELI CONFLICT,
19492014. Introduction. The 1956 SuezSinai campaign.
The 1967 June War. The 1973 October War. The 1982 Lebanon War. The
Palestinian armed struggle from the 1948 naqba to the 1987 intifada. The
peace process and its collapse. The 2006 Gaza offensive and Lebanon war. Gaza
wars, 2006-2014. Renewal of negotiations, the Arab spring, and American peace
initiatives. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
19. THE RISE OF POLITICAL
ISLAM,
19282014. Introduction. The rise of political Islam. Islamist
movements: aims, strategies and political philosophies. The 1979 Islamic
revolution in Iran. Fundamentalist Islam: Afghanistan and the Taliban.
Islamic resistance: Hizballah, Hamas and Laskar Jihad. Transnational and
global jihadism. The Syrian jihad. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
20. THE
END OF THE COLD WAR AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER,
19802000. Introduction. The
superpowers and the Third World. The disintegration of the Soviet bloc. The
First Gulf War. The unipolar moment: America at the apex. The new world
order and ethnic conflict. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
21. THE RISE OF
A NEW EUROPE: THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION,
19452014. Introduction.
The idea of Europe. From the Second World War to the Treaty of Rome. Widening
and deepening in the shadow of the Cold War. An ever-wider Europe and the
conundrums of success. The Eurozone crisis. The EEC/EU as inspiration:
integration in Asia and the Americas. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
22.
THE RISE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY. Introduction. Human rights
before the First World War. The League of Nations, population politics and
minority rights. The United Nations and the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights. Human rights in the age of the Cold War. The right to protect:
humanitarian intervention and the punishment of war crimes. Whose human
rights? Paradoxes and problems. Conclusion. Recommended reading.
23. US
DECLINE IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD? Introduction. From 9/11 to Iraqi Freedom.
Backfire: Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror. The war on terror in
South-East Asia. The challenge of nuclear proliferation. Americas
conundrums: hyperpower humbled. Conclusion. Recommended reading. CONCLUSION:
WHERE TO NEXT? Glossary. Index.
Antony Best is Senior Lecturer in International History at the London School of Economics.
Jussi M. Hanhimaki is Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
Joseph A. Maiolo is Professor of International History at the Department of War Studies, King's College London and Visiting Research Professor at the Norwegian Defence Intelligence School, Oslo.
Kirsten E. Schulze is Senior Lecturer in International History at the London School of Economics.
