First published 1990 by Pearson Education Limited
Published 2014 by Routledge
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1990, 1995 Brian Hocking and Michael Smith
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ISBN 13: 978-0-13-353922-6 (pbk)
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hocking, Brian.
World politics : an introduction to international relations /
Brian Hocking and Mike Smith. 2nd ed.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-13-353922-9 (pbk.)
1. International relations. I. Smith, Michael, 1947
II. Title.
JX1391.H58 1995
327dc
94-37294
CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Typeset in 9/12pt Sabon
by Hands Fotoset, Leicester
The first edition of this book appeared at a time of profound upheavals in world affairs. The speed and extent of change since then has presented us as observers of these events with both challenges and opportunities in preparing this second edition: challenges in making some sense of what is happening as the world moves further into the uncharted territory of the post-Cold War era; opportunities to test the ideas and assumptions developed in what was the final phase of the East-West conflict as it had existed and developed since the late 1940s.
In producing this new edition, we have been sensitive to the need to review and rethink the contents of the original text. Thus each chapter has been examined and revised, some extensively so. At the same time, we resisted the temptation all too real during periods of great change to alter everything, to assume that all aspects of world politics have been suddenly transformed with the dawn of what some were to describe as a new world order. Indeed, as we explain below, one of the central arguments of the first edition was that international affairs can only be understood in terms of a dialogue between change and continuity. We believe that the events of the last few years only serve to reinforce this hypothesis.
Any book poses problems of approach. How has the author approached the subject matter and on what assumptions does the argument rest? How should readers approach the book in terms of its use and where should they go to explore further the ideas contained within it? We address these questions in the next few pages. This is not a preface but an integral part of the volume. As such, we hope that it will be read.
As with the first edition, the book is based on a number of convictions, developed by the authors in the course of teaching and researching international relations during the past twenty years or so. The first of these convictions is quite simply that world politics is an essential area of study for those who would understand the way in which their world works. However limited the scope and horizons of our involvement in the world, it is nowadays increasingly difficult to escape the influence of the broader international arena. At the same time, it becomes ever more apparent that the world stage sees the acting out of dramas which have literally earth-shattering potential. Knowing about these processes, and being able to view them in an analytical and critical light, is thus one of the characteristics of an effective education in the final years of the twentieth century.
World politics
World politics is a complex and contested field of study and this quality forms the basis for the ways in which the book is organised and presented. The first feature which should be made clear is that this is a study of world politics, as opposed to international or global politics. Clearly, such a statement requires clarification since it relates to the scope and focus of the study undertaken here.
In the first place, the use of the term world politics reflects a conviction that international relations have political ramifications on a worldwide scale, and that the political arena is coextensive in important respects with the globe itself. Second, the term denotes a concern with something more than the traditional definition of international politics as politics between states although states and the governments acting on their behalf are certainly central to the process, they are by no means the only politically significant actors on the world stage. None the less, the state system provides a major starting-point for investigation of world politics.
Beyond this, world politics demands a concern with who gets what, when and how in the international arena. The who can encompass individuals, groups, large organisations and states themselves, but it cannot be confined to any one type of political force. The what can include the dramatic episodes of war and peace, territorial conquest and national security, but it also extends to equally vital areas of economic activity and other social processes with an inescapably international content.
The how may imply violence, destruction and terror, but can also extend to processes of negotiation, collaboration and technical or routine administration. Such a perspective on world politics reflects a further conviction that in the contemporary era it makes little sense to talk of world politics as a process which is out there, carried on solely by specialised lites or experts acting on behalf of governments. Very often, world politics literally starts at home, and has its origins or impact at the most intimate levels of social activity.
Change and continuity
This does not mean, however, that everything has changed that the world politics of the late twentieth century would be in all respects unrecognisable to someone born in different times. As noted earlier, living as we do in an era of tremendous change, there is a great temptation to believe that this is so. The study of world politics has sometimes assumed a confrontational aspect. On the one hand, there are those who claim that nothing important has changed and that the international system of the 1990s is essentially the same as that of the 1890s. On the other, there are those who claim that everything has changed and that the transformation of international politics into global politics is an inescapable feature of our world.
