Can great powers ensure the political outcomes they want and prevent political developments they oppose, by stationing their military forces in distant regions during peacetime? If so, what kinds of military capabilities yield this sort of peacetime political leverage? And what kinds of political goals can-and, just as importantly, cannot-be achieved through "forward military presence?" In the post-9/11 world, as the United States seeks to use its unrivalled global military predominance to build a safer, better world by preventing terrorism and encouraging societies around the world to embrace democracy, these questions take on enormous importance. Presence, Prevention, and Persuasion addresses these issues by looking at British, French, and American experiences in the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean basin, and Africa over the last two centuries. The authors' findings will have a significant impact on scholarship but, more importantly, on American decision-making communities. An essential volume for anyone working in the field of international relations whether it is policy making, diplomacy, military planning or the private sector.

International Relations explores the basic concepts of international politics and investigates the causes of war. The selections in this anthology are drawn from major theoretical writings on international relations and offer sophisticated explanations of the forces and factors that shape the behavior of states in the international system. Among the topics covered are the nature of anarchy, power, the state, the international system, and international society. The discussion of the causes of war considers the impact of security dilemmas, balance of power, hegemonic stability, domestic politics, bureaucratic politics, human aggressiveness, and human cognition. This book offers students an accessible introduction to the central principles of international politics and provides a theoretical grounding for further study or research.