World Politics since 1945

Description

Features

·        A classic work of narrative reference

·        Covers all the major political events since 1945

New to this Edition

The 9th edition brings this famous book completely up to date – right into 2008, while preserving the strengths of the previous editions:

• Impeccable writing style
• Comprehensive coverage
• A truly internationalist perspective
• Interesting and challenging judgements on world events

Table of Contents

World Politics Since 1945

Peter Calvocoressi

Table of Contents

List of Maps

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART ONE: THE COLD WAR

1                    The Cold War

   Beginnings

   The division of Germany

   Nato and the Soviet empire to the Cuban crisis

   The arms race

   The perplexities of the United States

   The disintegration of the USSR

   The limits of superpower

PART TWO: THE FAR EAST

2          Japan

3          China

               The triumph of Mao

               China and the superpowers

               Resurrection

               Xinjiang and Tibet

4          Korea

PART THREE: EUROPE REMODELLED

5          Western Europe

               Recovery

               Franco-German entente

               Britain on the edge

               European Union (west)

               European Union (east – west)

               The southern flank

6          Central and eastern Europe

               Stalin’s empire

               After Stalin

               End of empire

7          Yugoslavia and Albania

               Federated Yugoslavia

               Dissolution: Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

               Partition: Bosnia-Herzegovina

               Kosovo

               Macedonia and Albania

Notes   A         Northern Ireland

            B          The Basques

            C         Cyprus

PART FOUR: THE MIDDLE EAST

8          Islam

9          Turkey

10        The Arabs and Israel to the Suez War

               The creation of Israel

               Arab revolutions

               The Suez War

11        From Suez to the death of Nasser

               Reassessments

               The decline of Nasser and the Six-Day War

12        The destruction of Lebanon

   The Yom Kippur War

               Civil war

               Camp David

               Israel’s invasion of Lebanon

13        Towards a Palestinian State

               King Hussein’s diplomacy

               Israel’s dilemma

14        Iran and Gulf Wars

               Oil and nationalism

               The shah and the ayatollah

               Saddam Hussein

               Kuwait and the Gulf War

               The destruction of Iraq

15        The Arabian Peninsula

               The Saudi kingdom

               The southern fringe

               Britain and the Persian Gulf

Notes   A         The Kurds

            B          The Shi’ites

            C         Sectarian violence

PART FIVE: SOUTH ASIA

16        The Indian subcontinent

               The first partition

               Northern borders: Tibet, Kashmir, the Himalayan states

               The second partition

17        The Indo-Chinese peninsula

18        South-east Asia and ASEAN

19        Afghanistan

                        Notes   A         Central Asia

                                    B          Sri Lanka

PART SIX: AFRICA

20        General

21        North Africa

               The Maghrib

               Libya and Chad

22        West Africa

               Independence

               The coastal loop from Senegal to Benin

               Landlocked: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger

               Nigeria

23        Central Africa

               Congo-Zaire-Congo

               Rwanda and Burundi

               West Central Africa

24        East Africa

               Sudan

               Darfur

               The Horn

               Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya

25        Africa’s deep south

               The legacy of Cecil Rhodes

               Mozambique-Angola-Namibia

               South Africa

26        Russians, Cubans, Chinese

Notes   A         The Malagasy Republic and the Indian Ocean

            B          Botswana, Lesotho, Ngwane

            C         The Homelands or Bantustans

PART SEVEN: LATIN AMERICA

27        South America

               General

28        Central America

29        Cuba and the Caribbean

                        Note                Guyana and Surinam

PART EIGHT: WORLD ORDER

30        World Order

               Preventing wars

               Preventing economic disasters

               Neutralism and realignment

               Poverty

                        Notes   A         Canada

                                    B          Very small states

                                    C         The Poles

                                    D         The law of the sea

APPENDIX: THE SOVEREIGN STATE   

Index

Back Cover

First published in 1968, World Politics since 1945 is a classic and authoritative study of contemporary political history that has helped to divert, educate, and inform two generations of political scientists, historians and general readers. The ninth edition has been expanded and updated to take into account the developments of the last 10 years, including the ugly incursions of global terrorism; the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan; the accelerating emergence of India and China as major powers; the major political developments in Latin America; the march of globalisation; the expansion eastwards of the European Union; instability in the Middle East; and the vexed question of oil and energy supplies.

The book has long been a staple of bookshelves and reading lists across the world, and provides a reliable and interconnected account of the great sweeps of contemporary history. Marked throughout by Calvocoressi’s characteristic erudition and elegance, it will continue to be essential reading for students of international politics and for all of those who simply wish to understand better the path the world has taken since the end of the Second World War.

“The book compels admiration for its thoroughness, its scope, the masterly ordering of its immense material.”
The Sunday Times

“This is a famous book, and has been for forty years, as it has grown steadily in scope and colour. Ninety-something per cent of political commentary is cribbed and confined by a lack of historical and geographical context. Here, for once, are the dots joined, the movements explained and the details returned to the world-sized landscape.”
Andrew Marr

“Peter Calvocoressi's book is an invaluable guide to global politics since the Second World War. It has reminded me of things I had forgotten and taught me things I did not know.  I will be a constant user of this interesting book.”
Chris Patten

“Lucid narrative, coherent structure and an enlightened liberal viewpoint.”
Sir Con O’Neill, The Observer

“This is the most lucid, comprehensive, intelligent, and  reliable account of post-war modern history on the market.”
Teaching Politics

“Peter Calvocoressi has a remarkable record of providing concise, pithy, shrewd and accessible analyses of contemporary history. World Politics demonstrates fully the range of his knowledge and the sagacity of his judgement.”
Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman.

About the author
Peter Calvocoressi, a distinguished figure in the field of International Relations, was born in 1912 and educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he received a First in History. He was called to the Bar in 1935. During the Second World War he worked in Ultra intelligence at Bletchley Park and later attended the Nuremberg trials. Since then he has divided his time between publishing and international affairs.

In the post-war period he succeeded Arnold Toynbee as author of the annual Survey of International Affairs. He was a partner in Chatto & Windus and the Hogarth Press and Chief Executive of Penguin Books. He has been a reader in International Affairs at the University of Sussex and has served on the Councils of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Amnesty International, and on the UN Sub-Committee on Discrimination and Minorities. He has been chairman of the London Library and the Africa Bureau.

In addition to this he is, of course, the author of many books, including the Penguin History of the Second World War; Fall Out: World War Two and the Shaping of Post-war Europe; A Time for Peace; Top Secret Ultra, a memoir of his time at Bletchley Park;Nuremberg: The Facts, the Law and the Consequences; and Threading My Way.

Author

About the author:

Peter Calvocoressi (who turns 97 this year) has had a remarkable life. During the war he worked at Bletchley Park as part of the Ultra intelligence team; he was sent to Nuremberg by the Joint Intelligence Committee, where he provided advice to the four chief prosecutors; in the post-war period he succeeded Arnold Toynbee and wrote the annual survey for the Royal Institute of International Affairs; from 1961 to 1971 he was on the council of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and served as chair of their Africa Bureau; during the same period he served on the United Nations Working Group on Minorities; on top of which he managed to develop distinguished ancillary careers in publishing, journalism, academia, and, of course, as an author of over twenty books