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Title: World Politics: Trend and Transformation
ISBN: 033349430X
Author:
Charles W. Kegley
Publicate Date: 1989-03
Publish: 1989-03
List Price: $21.90
Average Customer Rating: 2.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest Used Price: $13.62
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Disappointed...
I'm in the middle of reading this book for a test I have in two days and I cannot help but be completely distracted by Kegley's obvious bias against the Bush administration. It's one thing to write a book about your views about Iraq and the mistakes Bush made, however this is a TEXTBOOK; textbooks must present information without biases in order for the student to make up his/her own mind on the subject.
I'm incredibly disappointed in Kegley and the publishers who released this TEXTbook.
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2: verbose, vague, and biased
The textbook provides an overview of basic theories, issues, and processes in the global system. However the chapters do not show very well how their subject matter relates to topics in the rest of the book.
The text is both verbose and vague. Definitions of terms given are of limited value because they are so technical and wordy. Conflicting theories are not examined very critically and are hidden among the fluff of speculation about the future and lists of facts, figures, and events too numerous to be of impact. Data is listed but not effectively interpreted. Frequently there will be pages in which only a few sentences are actually important. The challenge is seeing which paragraphs can be skipped.
The book is particularly good on great power rivalries and global conflicts. On political economy it is ambitious but cannot go into enough detail because it doesn't expect students to have taken economics. The chapters on NGOs and IGOs do not succeed at explaining what they actually do.
Although realist views are discussed, the book is ambitious in pushing for liberal views even without supporting evidence. It devotes much time to them but does not manage to be convincing. The book HATES Bush for rejecting multilateralism and does not hesitate to criticize him or other leaders
Most likely readers are forced to buy textbook for a class. It will induce sleep. Sifting through the material, not the material itself is the challenge.
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3: dull
everytime i tried to read this gibberish i felt like passing out. one of those texts that keeps going and going and in the end you learn very little. as an introduction to IR, it killed my interest in the area.
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4: Disappointed
I would expect a popular entry-level international relations book to have a good overview (which it had) and deal with current issues (which it did) - but not with the blatant superficial biases against US policy masked in glib rhetoric and without any consideration of alternative viewpoints. Furthermore, I found it to be extremely US-centric; presenting viewpoints of the world that only a leftist American would espouse and certainly not a thoughtful citizen of the world. The authors would have been better to disclose up front what eventually becomes obvious after the first few chapters. So much for intellectual honesty.
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5: Well Done
I took an international relations course awhile ago, and this book was part of the required reading. While it does not provide a complete overview of IR, it does a very good job at the intro level. Specifically, the text does a very thorough job of adressing globalization, the global south, and introductory political economy. I would suggest buying this book and then reading the works of the political scientists upon which much of the theory is based (Mearsheimer, Nye, Waltz, Angell, Doyle, Morganthau, Carr, etc.)
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