Scott Straus

Barry Driscoll

The challenge of teaching international studies is to help students think coherently about the multiple causes and effects of global problems. In International Studies: Global Forces, Interactions, and Tensions, award-winning scholars Scott Straus and Barry Driscoll introduce students to the foundations of the course; the major actors, institutions and theories; as well as the contemporary problems that will matter most to students. In the fully updated Second Edition, the authors give students a clear framework that pinpoints how key factors—forces, interactions, and tensions—contribute to current world events and global problems like human rights abuses, economic inequality, pandemic and global health responses, and food security. The book raises the bar for the Introduction to International Studies course and is relevant to students from a wide variety of backgrounds with diverse interests in geography, sociology, political science, and anthropology. Included with this text The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site.

Global Forces, Interactions, and Tensions

International Studies

The challenge of teaching international studies is to help you think coherently about the multiple causes and effects of global problems. In International Studies: Global Forces, Interactions, and Tensions, award-winning scholars Scott Straus and Barry Driscoll give you a clear framework that pinpoints how key factors—forces, interactions, and tensions—contribute to world events, with both global and local consequences. The authors first show you how to look for common patterns in global issues by introducing four world-shaping forces: global markets, shifting centers of power, information and communications technologies, and global governance. They systematically trace how these forces prompt interactions among world actors and thus give rise to a set of tensions that spur key challenges. The framework enables you to ask and answer for yourself—Who is interacting? Where did such interactions develop? What policies or institutions govern them? Why are they getting certain global and local reactions? You are then apply the framework to the global problems that matter most to you: human rights abuses, economic inequality, terrorism, forced migration, pandemics and global health responses, climate change, food security, and more. International Studies raises the bar for the Introduction to IS course, moving beyond interdisciplinary, and into the realm of critical analysis to increase student relevancy and motivation.

Barry Driscoll

Books

Your next favorite book is out there