Table Of ContentC A S E S I N
IN T E RN AT ION A L
REL AT IONS
P R I N C I P L E S
A N D A P P L I C A T I O N S
E I G H T H E D I T I O N
DONALD M. SNOW
T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F A L A B A M A
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Executive Editor: Traci Crowell
Assistant Editor: Deni Remsberg
Higher Education Channel Manager: Jonathan Raeder
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Seventh edition 2018
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Contents
Contents
Contents
Preface v
Acknowledgments ix
Part I Principles and Dynamics
1
Sovereignty: Dealing with Changing Norms and the
International Criminal Court 3
2
Diplomacy: Changing Methods and U.S.-Mexican
Border Security 17
3
National Interests and Power: Dealing with Saudi Arabia 31
4
The Instruments of Power: Ending the Syrian Civil War 45
5
Internationalism and Unilateralism: Going It Together or Alone—
The Fate of NATO 57
6
Promoting Universal Human Rights: Responsibility to Protect? 71
7
Rising and Declining Powers: China and Russia 85
8
Asymmetrical Warfare: The Never-Ending Case of Afghanistan 101
9
The Corrosive Politics of Petroleum: Nigeria and Venezuela 115
Part II Issues and Problems
10
Nuclear Proliferation: The Contrasting Lessons of North Korea
and Iran 131
11
Globalization, Protectionism, and Trade: The Cases of the
European Union and NAFTA/USMCA 145
12
International Population Movement: Restricting Immigration
in the United States and Europe 159
iii
iv Contents
13
Power Changes: The Middle East Sandy Swamp and the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 173
14
Stateless Nations: The Fate of the Palestinians and the Kurds 185
15
Global Climate Change: Paris and Beyond 197
16
Resource Scarcity: The Quest for Secure Access to Water
and Energy 211
17
The Evolving Nature and Problem of Terror: The Post–Islamic
State Threat 225
18
Cyberwar and Cybersecurity: May the Force Be with Whom? 239
Index 253
Preface
This book is, and through its various editions always has been, about
explaining basic concepts, forces, and dynamics in international relations
and how these principles help shape and guide applications to contempo-
rary situations. As such, it has two basic missions: providing basic instruction in
important dynamics of how international relations work (hopefully in a lively and
engaging manner) and providing updated and relevant information and inter-
pretation of major events helping to shape the world. These have been the goals
since the first edition appeared in 2002; they remain for this, the eighth edition.
After some experimentation with formats, I have adopted a “formula” of sorts,
where each case study begins with a principle of operation of the international
system followed by an example of events that illustrate the principle and contro-
versies surrounding it. This division is reflected in the overall table of contents:
the first nine chapters deal with underlying international relations principles,
whereas the last nine chapters focus on substantive problems. The purpose is to
create a coherence often missing in supplemental texts. I would like to think that,
in addition to being a “reader” to accompany a comprehensive text, it could be
used as a text on its own supplemented by other materials.
Like all books going through multiple editions, this one has evolved over
time. This edition is distinguished by two major structural changes from pre-
vious editions. Both affect the cases in this volume. First, there are more cases
than before. Most of the previous editions had fourteen cases, and this edition
has eighteen. The length of each case has been reduced from about 9,000 words
to a little over 6,000 words, leaving the final product about the same length
as earlier editions. This restructuring replicates the organization of my Cases in
U.S. National Security, published in 2018. The shorter chapters are more reader
friendly, in the sense that each chapter can be read in one easy sitting. Second,
the expansion in number of cases allows an expansion of the topics covered,
thereby enhancing the book’s comprehensiveness. I hope the reader will find the
additions interesting, informative, and readable, and that what has been lost in
the depth of past cases will be compensated for by greater topic coverage.
New to This Edition
The new configuration of the table of contents has provided both the opportu-
nity and necessity of adding additional topics, reconfiguring some others, and
eliminating yet others—particularly applications that have become less relevant
since the last edition was published. There is, for instance, much less coverage
of the Islamic State than in the seventh edition, for the simple reason that its
star rose and then fell (largely for reasons laid out in the last edition). Topics
like national overdependence on petroleum revenues (petrolism) and its impact
on the current Venezuelan crisis have been added. As a quick glance at the table
v
vi Preface
of contents shows, eight of the eighteen chapters are totally new to this edition.
That is almost half the book, and there is not a single chapter that has not been
revised and updated based on events through mid-2019.
The nine new chapters cover a wide range of topics and concerns. Four deal
with principles of operation of the international system, and are thus in part I.
These are chapter 2 on diplomacy, chapter 4 on the instruments of power, chap-
ter 5 on multilateral versus unilateral approaches to conducting international
relations, and chapter 6 on the universality of human rights. The other new
chapters look at systemic problem areas: chapter 7 on rising and declining pow-
ers (China and Russia), chapter 9 on petrolism, chapter 13 on regional power
changes in the Middle East, chapter 14 on the dilemma of stateless nations, and
chapter 18 on cybersecurity and cyberwar. Other chapters with major revisions
from the previous edition include chapter 10 on nuclear proliferation, chapter
12 on international population movement, chapter 15 on global climate change,
chapter 16 on global resource scarcity, and chapter 17 on terrorism. In addition,
more limited changes were made to chapter 8 on asymmetrical warfare and chap-
ter 11 on global economic dynamics (including the controversy over tariffs and
economic associations).
The text also introduces some new ideas and forces in the international mix.
An illustrative list includes the evolving situation in Saudi Arabia, the idea of a
“responsibility to protect” beleaguered peoples, the instability in Nigeria and
Venezuela created by an excess dependence on petroleum revenue, the Trump
administration’s proposed U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement as a successor to
North American Free Trade Agreement, the evolving role of the Kurds (and
the Palestinians) in their quest for their own sovereign state, differing dynamics
of North Korean and Iranian proliferation, and how terrorism may change post
Islamic State and Al Qaeda. There is more, but it is a broad and I hope rich
menu. Dig in!
Features
What distinguishes this effort from other supplementary texts in the field? One
answer is that all the chapters included in the volume are original papers written
by the author specifically for this volume. The reason for doing so was to allow
for more timely coverage of ongoing situations than is possible with the publica-
tion lag time of scholarly journals and their availability to readers and other com-
pendia. It also allows casting the cases in a common format that makes it easier
to compare the contents of the various cases without wading through disparate
styles and formats of various authors and publications. In addition, journal arti-
cles are written for academic peers rather than more-or-less lay students, mean-
ing they are generally rendered in language and theoretical trappings that are
less than accessible to student readers. Finally, writing original chapters facilitates
updating and modifying materials as events and dynamics change, which hope-
fully adds to the freshness, accuracy, and timeliness of the materials contained
in these pages. Presenting the most contemporary set of portraits possible has
certainly been a major purpose of this and earlier editions.
Preface vii
A word about what this book is—and is not—is appropriate at this point. It
is a case book, presenting a series of individual instances of dynamics and trends
within the international arena. The effort is neither inclusive nor encyclopedic;
it covers selected concepts and events, not the universe of international con-
cerns. A series of eighteen important, underlying concepts and principles of the
international system have been chosen and discussed, and the discussion of these
principles has been applied to contemporary, important, and interesting real-life
examples. The result is not a systematic overview of the international system or
its history, which is the province of core textbooks in the field. Likewise, it does
not offer a unifying theoretical explanatory framework of international politics,
a task that more specialized books purporting grand “theories” of international
relations propound. Rather, the intent is to introduce and apply some basic con-
cepts about international relations and how they apply in real situations.
Acknowledgments
This edition of the book is once again dedicated to my good friend and
colleague, the late D. Eugene Brown. Gene and I met in 1989 at the
U.S. Army War College, where we both served as visiting professors and
shared an office for two years before he returned to his permanent home at Leb-
anon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and I returned to the University
of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In the ensuing decade, we were collaborators on sev-
eral book projects; Cases in International Relations, which was mostly Gene’s
idea, was to be a continuation, even culmination, of those efforts. Unfortunately,
Gene left us before the original project was complete. His shadow remains, I
hope with a smile on his face.
I have also received generous and very helpful assistance from the team at
Rowman & Littlefield. In particular, I would like to thank three members of the
Rowman & Littlefield team. My editor, Traci Crowell (a fellow University of
Colorado alum—Go Buffs), obtained the reversion of rights to me for the previ-
ous edition, and encouraged me throughout the writing process. Alden Perkins
did her usual professional job turning the manuscript into a book, our third proj-
ect together. Special thanks go to Deni Remsberg, who cheerfully and efficiently
came to my aid when my lack of knowledge and empathy with the dynamics of
electronic infernal machines left me in a bewildered panic (a recurrent burden on
her). Thanks for everything, guys!
Lastly, I would like to thank the reviewers of the eighth edition: John Allen
Williams (Loyola University of Chicago), John W. Dietrich (Bryant University),
Lynda K. Barrow (Coe College), Rita Peters (University of Massachusetts at
Boston), George Poluse (Kent State University), Marius Ratolojanahary (North-
ern Virginia Community College), and Matthew Wahlert (Miami University).
DonalD M. Snow
ProfeSSor eMerituS
univerSity of alabaMa
ix
