This book focuses on the main theories and paradigms of contemporary international politics. It adjusts the chapter structure on the basis of the fourth edition and is divided into three parts: international political theory, international security and global issues, and foreign policy and international strategy. The first part introduces the emergence and development of the discipline of international politics, the methods and approaches of disciplinary research, the different schools and debates on the evolution of international relations theory, and the "actors" and "international system" as the basic concepts of international relations. The second part discusses various international issues, involving several aspects of international security and contemporary global issues. These meso-level discussions include international security studies, conflict studies, environmental issues studies, terrorism studies, international organization studies, etc. The third part discusses the actors' foreign policies and strategic responses.
