Includes index.

Contents: Understanding international relations: The Study of international relations -- The Historical setting of international relations -- Actors on the international stage -- The Instruments of international relations: Defining power in a new era -- War and lesser conflict: force in decline? -- Penetration operations: intelligence, convert acts, and propaganda -- The Role of diplomacy: a traditional tool in changing times -- The International political economy: instruments of competition and conflict -- The International political economy: the institutions of cooperation and integration -- The Struggle for world order: Arms limitations: passage into the post-cold war era -- International law as the framework for international society -- International organizationa for security and progress -- Sharing a planet and planetary experiences: Environment of humankind: a future in jeopardy -- Shared experiences of humankind -- Conclusion: Conditions and trends at the turn of the 21st century.