Sample Reading List
The following list represents examples of texts you are likely to encounter in your International Relations coursework at the University of Chicago. It should not be considered exhaustive or a pre-requisite for study at CIR.
- Abbott, Kenneth W. and Duncan Snidal. 1998. “Why States Act through Formal International Organizations.” Journal of Conflict Resolution, 42 (1): 3–32.
- Axelrod, Robert. 1984. Evolution of Cooperation. New York : Basic Books.
- Baldwin, David. 1997. “The Concept of Security.” Review of International Studies 23: 5–26.
- Barnett, Michael and Martha Finnemore. 2004. Rules for the World: International Organizations in Global Politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Brown, Michael and Sean Lynn-Jones (eds.). 1997. Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Brown, Michael et al. (eds.). 1996. Debating the Democratic Peace. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Bull, Hedley. 1977. The Anarchical Society. New York: Columbia UP.
- Buzan, Barry, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde. 1998. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. London: Lynne Rienner.
- Campbell, David. 1998. Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity. Rev. edition. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
- Carlsnaes, Walter, Thomas Risse, and Beth Simmons. (eds.). Handbook of International Relations. New York: Sage.
- Copeland, Dale. 2001. The Origins of Major War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Downs, George, David Rocke, and Peter Barsoom. 1996. “Is the Good News About Compliance Good News About Cooperation?” International Organization 50: 379–406.
- Doyle, Michael W. 1986. “Liberalism and World Politics.” American Political Science Review 80: 1151–1169.
- Drezner, Daniel. 1999. The Sanctions Paradox. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP.
- Fearon, James and David Laitin. 1996. “Explaining Interethnic Cooperation.” American Political Science Review 90: 715–35.
- Fearon, James. 1995. “Rationalist Explanations for War.” International Organization 49: 379–414.
- Gilpin, Robert. 1981. War and Change in International Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Gilpin, Robert. 2001. Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Glaser, Charles L. 1994/5. “Realists as Optimists: Cooperation as Self–Help.” International Security 19: 50–90.
- Goldstein, Judith et.al. (eds.). 2001. Legalization and World Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Goldstein, Judith, and Robert Keohane. (eds.). 1993. Ideas and Foreign Policy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Goldstein, Judith. 1996. “International Law and Domestic Institutions: Reconciling North American ‘Unfair’ Trade Laws.” International Organization 50: 541–64.
- Gourevitch, Peter. 1978. “The Second Image Reversed: The International Sources of Domestic Politics.” International Organization 32: 881–912.
- Gruber, Lloyd. 2000. Ruling the World: Power Politics and the Rise of Supranational Institutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Haas, Peter M. 1992. “Introduction: Epistemic Communities and International Policy Coordination.” International Organization 46: 1–35.
- Hurd, Ian. 1999. “Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics.” International Organization 53: 379–408.
- Ikenberry, G. John. 2001. After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Jervis, Robert. 1976. Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Jervis, Robert. 1978. “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma.” World Politics 30: 167–214.
- Jervis, Robert. 1989. The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Keck, Margaret E., and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Keohane, Robert, and Helen Milner. (eds.). 1996. Internationalization and Domestic Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Koremenos, Barbara, Charles Lipson, and Duncan Snidal. (eds.) 2004. The Rational Design of International Institutions. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Krasner, Stephen D. 1999. Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Krasner, Stephen D. (ed.). 1983. International Regimes. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Layne, Christopher. 1994. “Kant or Can’t: The Myth of the Democratic Peace.” International Security 19: 5–49.
- Lipson, Charles. 1986. “International Cooperation in Economics and Security Affairs.” World Politics 37: 1–23.
- Lipson, Charles. 2003. Reliable Partners: How Democracies Have Made a Separate Peace. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
- Mearsheimer, John J. 1994/95. “The False Promise of International Institutions.” International Security 19: 5–49.
- Mearsheimer, John J. 2001. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: Norton.
- Milner, Helen. 1991. “The Assumption of Anarchy in International Relations Theory: A Critique.” Review of International Studies 17: 67–85.
- Morgenthau, Hans J. 1948. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
- Pape, Robert. 1996. Bombing to Win: Airpower and Coercion in War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Pape, Robert. 1997. “Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work.” International Security 22 (1): 90–136.
- Pape, Robert. 2005. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. New York: Random House.
- Putnam, Robert. 1988. “Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two–level Games.” International Organization 42: 427–460.
- Risse, Thomas et alia. (eds.). 1999. The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Political Change. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Risse, Thomas. 2000. “‘Let’s Argue!’: Communicative Action in World Politics.” International Organization 54: 1–39.
- Rosato, Sebastian. 2003. “The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory.” American Political Science Review 97: 585–602.
- Ruggie, John. 1998. Constructing the World Polity. New York: Routledge.
- Sagan, Scott and Kenneth Waltz. 2003. The Spread of Nuclear Weapons. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
- Schelling, Thomas. 1966. Arms and Influence. New Haven, CT: Yale UP.
- Snyder, Jack. 1991. Myths of Empire: Domestic Politics and International Ambition. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Strange, Susan. 1996. The Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Suny, Ronald and Geoff Eley. (eds.) 1996. Becoming National: A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Tannenwald, Nina. 1999. “The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Normative Basis of Nuclear Non-Use.” International Organization 53: 433–468.
- Van Evera, Stephen. 1999. Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Walt, Stephen M. 1990. The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
- Waltz, Kenneth N. 1959. Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis. New York: Columbia UP.
- Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. New York: McGraw Hill.
- Wendt, Alexander. 1992. “Anarchy Is What States Make of It.” International Organization 46: 391–425.
- Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Wohlforth, William C. 1999. “The Stability of a Unipolar World.” International Security 24: 5–41.
Methodology in the Social Sciences
- Brady, Henry and David Collier. 2004. Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
- King, Gary, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Van Evera, Stephen. 1997. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
Journals
You might want to look at journals to become familiar with recent developments in the field. Simply browse through the past three or four years of these journals and read articles of special interest to you. Journals are also an excellent source for scholarly reviews of important new books. Some of the leading journals are:
- American Political Science Review/Perspectives on Politics (for book reviews)
- International Organization
- International Security
- International Studies Quarterly
- Millennium
- Security Studies