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Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2009

Ken Booth
Affiliation:
Aberystwyth
Ken Booth
Affiliation:
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
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Summary

We live in an era of question-marks. We thought that we knew what was happening during the Cold War: but did we? We assume we are asking the right questions today: but are we? Is history at an end, or only at a beginning? Can we possibly know the future, when we are so divided about the meaning of the past? Are we justified in feeling so anxious about the twenty-first century, or is it merely end-of-millennial angst? Having survived the Cold War, why are governments so confused and seemingly unable to do a better job? What are we to think?

The chapters below attempt to give students of world affairs a range of ideas and information to help them think about such questions in relation to some of the major issues in international relations. They span the debate over the origins and nuclear lessons of the Cold War to philosophical speculation about the so-called human condition. I asked a group of influential and distinguished scholars to write short and accessible think-pieces on major themes, with minimal academic paraphenalia, and a high ratio of ideas and argument to descriptive detail. As such, I trust that these essays will be plundered by students and appreciated by general readers in their own attempts to understand the complex pressures which have shaped, and are shaping all our lives.

In the course of preparing this book I have incurred several debts.

Type
Chapter
Information
Statecraft and Security
The Cold War and Beyond
, pp. xiii - xiv
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1998

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  • Preface
  • Edited by Ken Booth, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
  • Book: Statecraft and Security
  • Online publication: 06 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558962.001
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  • Preface
  • Edited by Ken Booth, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
  • Book: Statecraft and Security
  • Online publication: 06 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558962.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface
  • Edited by Ken Booth, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
  • Book: Statecraft and Security
  • Online publication: 06 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558962.001
Available formats
×