Course: International Politics Mastery: Win Arguments With Theory

By Kamil Zwolski, Ph.D.

Recommended Reading List

I would like to encourage you to read some of the books from this list in order to deepen your understanding of
world politics.

Theorising international politics

 James Rosenau and Mary Durfee, Thinking Theory Thoroughly: Coherent Approaches to an Incoherent
World
 Knud Erik Jørgensen, International Relations Theory: A New Introduction

Realism: balance of power, security dilemma, anarchy

 E.H. Carr, The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939
 Hans Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations
 John Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
 Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis
 Kenneth Waltz’s, Theory of International Politics
 Michael C. Williams, The Realist Tradition and the Limits of International Relation
 Raymond Aron, Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations
 The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War, (Edited by Robert B.
Strassler), New York: Touchstone Books, 1998) <- get THIS edition

Liberalism: international integration

 David Mitrany’s A Working Peace System
 Ernst Haas, Beyond the Nation-State
 Keohane and Nye, Power and Interdependence
 Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation
 Robert O. Keohane, After Hegemony

Constructivism: international norms

 Alex Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics
 Alexander Wendt, "Anarchy is What States Make of It," International Organization (Spring 1992), pp. 391-
426.
 Martha Finnemore, National Interest in International Society
 Peter J. Katzenstein, ed, (1996) The Culture of National Security
 Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, ‘International Norm Dynamics and Political Change’, International
Organization Vol. 52, No. 4, Autumn, 1998