Global Perspectives:

This innovative text/reader illustrates a range of national and regional perspectives on international relations and U.S. foreign policy. The twenty-eight selections include speeches, essays, and book excerpts, offering opinion and analysis by leading politicians, journalists, and scholars from around the globe.

Divided into two parts, the book begins with a survey of contrasting views about the emerging post–Cold War order. Part 2 continues with readings that present a U.S. perspective on important issues in world and regional politics, followed by perspectives that originate from within each region covered. Each reading is introduced by a contextual note. Lai demonstrates how different national leaders define the challenges they face in the internal politics of their regions, how they view their interests within the larger world community, and how they view their current and future relations with the United States. Designed to encourage critical thought about controversies in world politics and the appropriate role of the U.S. as a world leader, the book is ideal for use in courses on international relations, U.S. foreign policy, and comparative foreign policy.