Strategic Studies and World Order

Book excerpt: In this 1994 book Bradley Klein draws upon debates in international relations theory to raise important questions about the nature of strategic studies. He argues that post-modern critiques of realism and neorealism open up opportunities for new ways of thinking about nuclear deterrence. In clear and uncluttered language, he explores the links between modernity, state-building and strategic violence, and argues that American foreign policy, and NATO, undertook a set of dynamic political practices intended to make and remake world order in the image of Western identity. Klein warns against too facile a celebration of the end of the Cold War, concluding that it is even more imperative today to appreciate the scope and power of the Western strategic project. The book will be of interest to students of international relations theory, strategic studies, peace studies, and US foreign policy.