First published in 1978, China's Role in World Affairs analyses China’s foreign policy within a framework suggested by the conceptualisation of the outside world and China’s place within it, as articulated and acted upon by China’s leaders.Divided into two parts, the book discusses China’s role as an ally of the Soviet Union and as an independent socialist system, following the Sino-Soviet rupture. The main operational concepts and themes of China’s foreign policy are also...

"A readable and judicious account of Communist history . . . that is both controversial and commonsensical." — SalonThe Rise and Fall of Communism is the definitive history from the internationally renowned Oxford authority on the subject. Emeritus Professor of Politics at Oxford University, Archie Brown examines the origins of the most important political ideology of the 20th century, its development in different nations, its col...

Five hundred years of Western hegemony has ended, while the global majority’s aspiration for a world order based on multipolarity and sovereign equality is rising. This incisive book addresses the demise of liberal hegemony, though pointing out that a multipolar Westphalian world order has not yet taken shape, leaving the world in a period of interregnum. A legal vacuum has emerged, in which the conflicting sides are competing to define the future order. NATO expansionism was an important ...

The unfolding crisis in Ukraine has brought the world to the brink of a new Cold War. As Russia and Ukraine tussle for Crimea and the eastern regions, relations between Putin and the West have reached an all-time low. How did we get here? Richard Sakwa here unpicks the context of conflicted Ukrainian identity and of Russo-Ukrainian relations and traces the path to the recent disturbances through the events which have forced Ukraine, a country internally divided between East and West, to ch...

The collapse of communism was one of the most defining moments of the twentieth century. At its peak, more than a third of the world's population had lived under communist power. What is communism? Where did the idea come from and what attracted people to it? What is the future for communism? This Very Short Introduction considers these questions and more in the search to explore and understand communism. Explaining the theory behind its ideology, and examining the history and min...

Accessibly written to appeal to a wide readership, this is a meticulous study of Gorbachev by a leading Western specialist on Soviet politics. - ;Mikhail Gorbachev was arguably the most important world statesman of the second half of the twentieth century. He played the decisive role in ending the Cold War and in allowing the countries of Eastern Europe to regain their independence peacefully. He left Russia a freer country than it had ever been. Although he failed in his attempts to turn the...

Exam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: AS: Summer 2016; A-level: Summer 2017Endorsed for EdexcelEnable your students to develop high-level skills in their Edexcel A level History breadth and depth studies through expert narrative and extended reading, including bespoke essays from le...

In this book Richard Sakwa provides a new analysis of the end of the Cold War and the subsequent failure to create a comprehensive and inclusive peace order in Europe. The end of the Cold War did not create a sustainable peace system. Instead, for a quarter of a century a 'cold peace' reflected the tension between cooperative and competitive behaviour. None of the fundamental problems of European security were resolved, and tensions accumulated. In 2014 the crisis exploded in the form of c...

The fall of the Berlin Wall sent shock waves around the world. It was, quite literally, a world-changing event. Now, more than two decades after the Wall's collapse, this book brings together leading authorities who offer a fresh look at how leaders in four vital centers of world politics--the United States, the Soviet Union, Europe, and China--viewed the world in the aftermath of this momentous event. Jeffrey Engel contributes a chronological narrative of this tumultuous period, followed ...

The new edition of this extremely well-received political biography of Vladimir Putin builds on the strengths of the first edition to provide the most detailed and nuanced account of the man, his politics and his profound influence on Russian politics, foreign policy and society. New to this edition:analysis of Putin's second term as Presidentmore biographical information in the light of recent researchdetailed discussion of changes to the policy process a...

The rapid and unexpected collapse of the Communist systems of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe continues to mystify scholars and citizens alike. The recent flood of books on this topic (many of them excellent) poses special problems for librarians who will need to choose carefully not only as to quality but also coverage. Stokes's work which covers Poland Germany Czechoslovakia Hungary Bulgaria and Romania can be recommended as a coherent well-written history that defines its time frame...

**"Nuanced, melancholy, sophisticated and gratifyingly intimate."–Yanis Varoufakis, author of TechnofeudalismUkrainian politics, the Russian invasion and the escalating crisis of the post-Soviet world**Towards the Abyss presents searching analysis of a decade of war and upheaval in Ukraine. Volodymyr Ishchenko has been among the left’s most significant commentators on Ukraine since 2014, when pro-EU protestors toppled the government in Kiev, Russia ...