Myth and Reality in International Politics

Jonathan Wilkenfeld is Professor of Government and Politics, and Director of the ICONS Simulation Project at the University of Maryland, USA. He was a founder with Michael Brecher of the International Crisis Behavior Project. His research and writing has addressed conflict and crisis, negotiation and mediation, with regional foci in the Middle East and China. His recent research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Homeland Security, and by the Folke Bernadotte Academy (Sweden). His recent books include Peace and Conflict 2014 (with David Backer and Paul Huth), International Negotiation in a Complex World (4th edition, with Brigid Starkey and Mark Boyer), and Mediating International Crises (with Kathleen Young, David Quinn, and Victor Asal).

• Contents: Introduction: Dramatic Gains and Daunting Challenges Chapter 1: Conflict Chapter 2 – Ethnic Diversity Chapter 3 – Instability, Democracy, and Regime Consistency Chapter 4 – Development Chapter 5 – Climate Change Conclusion: Global Challenges to Human Security in the Twenty-First Century

"In his groundbreaking new book, Wilkenfeld brings the research and policy communities together to confront critical global challenges. In addressing climate change, underdevelopment, conflict, and instability, he implores our national leaders to undertake bold steps in a newly collaborative, intentional, and systematic approach. The book offers a blueprint for increased leadership responsibility, clarity of mission, and empowerment of states and individuals. It suggests a way to transform lofty but often vague agendas into concrete, measurable progress."—Henry Waxman, former U.S. Representative (D-CA)"Jonathan Wilkenfeld, one of the leading scholars in international relations over a period of forty years, has written an extremely important, timely, and thought-provoking book. This work provides a perceptive grasp of the key challenges that face the global community in the coming era; it decouples some of the more prevalent myths of how global turmoil can be managed or mitigated; and it offers an insightful and inspiring vision of how we can effectively confront these global challenges. A key message of this book is that, even if we do not feel immediately affected by such issues as continued domestic instability, underdevelopment and inequality, or climate change, these challenges will come back to bite us if we do not take collective action to confront them head on. This is a must read for students, scholars, practitioners of world politics, as well as by people who care about the future of this planet."—Zeev Maoz, University of California, Davis