Karl DeRouen Jr

Civil wars and intrastate armed conflict are the predominant form of organized violence in the contemporary era. Beyond their direct devastating impact, they fundamentally change societies and are linked to broader global issues and challenges. Taking a thematic approach with a focus on conflict management and peacebuilding, this accessible textbook, written for post-graduate and senior undergraduate courses, engages with recent research and comprehensive data to explore the nature of civil war and violent intrastate conflict. With analysis of current and historical conflicts integrated into the chapter coverage, helpful features include boxes highlighting key cases and topics, discussion points opening each chapter, graphs that illustrate important trends, photographs of significant conflicts, suggested readings for each chapter, and a timeline signposting major conflict and security events since 1945. Online resources are provided as an accessible entry point to topics for instructors, students and researchers from different backgrounds, including those less familiar with data.

Civil wars and intrastate armed conflict are the predominant form of organized violence in the contemporary era. Beyond their direct devastating impact, they fundamentally change societies and are linked to broader global issues and challenges. Taking a thematic approach with a focus on conflict management and peacebuilding, this accessible textbook, written for post-graduate and senior undergraduate courses, engages with recent research and comprehensive data to explore the nature of civil war and violent intrastate conflict. With analysis of current and historical conflicts integrated into the chapter coverage, helpful features include boxes highlighting key cases and topics, discussion points opening each chapter, graphs that illustrate important trends, photographs of significant conflicts, suggested readings for each chapter, and a timeline signposting major conflict and security events since 1945. Online resources are provided as an accessible entry point to topics for instructors, students and researchers from different backgrounds, including those less familiar with data.

Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making presents a psychological approach to foreign policy decision making. This approach focuses on the decision process, dynamics, and outcome. The book includes a wealth of extended real-world case studies and examples that are woven into the text. The cases and examples, which are written in an accessible style, include decisions made by leaders of the United States, Israel, New Zealand, Cuba, Iceland, United Kingdom, and others. In addition to coverage of the rational model of decision making, levels of analysis of foreign policy decision making, and types of decisions, the book includes extensive material on alternatives to the rational choice model, the marketing and framing of decisions, cognitive biases, and domestic, cultural, and international influences on decision making in international affairs. Existing textbooks do not present such an approach to foreign policy decision making, international relations, American foreign policy, and comparative foreign policy.

Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making presents a psychological approach to foreign policy decision making. This approach focuses on the decision process, dynamics, and outcome. The book includes a wealth of extended real-world case studies and examples that are woven into the text. The cases and examples, which are written in an accessible style, include decisions made by leaders of the United States, Israel, New Zealand, Cuba, Iceland, United Kingdom, and others. In addition to coverage of the rational model of decision making, levels of analysis of foreign policy decision making, and types of decisions, the book includes extensive material on alternatives to the rational choice model, the marketing and framing of decisions, cognitive biases, and domestic, cultural, and international influences on decision making in international affairs. Existing textbooks do not present such an approach to foreign policy decision making, international relations, American foreign policy, and comparative foreign policy.