Interrogation, Vision, and Foresight on International Relations
Stephanie Lawson, Relații internaționale. O scurtă introducere [International Relations] (Cluj-Napoca: CA Publishing, 2010), ISBN 978-606-92680-3-2, 201 pp.
Speranța Sofia MILANCOVICI
By translating into Romanian and publishing Stephanie Lawson’s book, CA Publishing House completes the Romanian landscape of international relations with a brief, transparent, clearly written introduction, which is precisely why it is so necessary to those taking the first steps in this area of study, as well as to the public interested in the current configuration of world politics.
The paper is divided into eight chapters, each with its own subchapters. It starts from a prudent historical perspective, offering however a contemporary view on
international relations as well. The first chapter systematically deals with the defining ages regarding the way in which specialists and the general public divided into periods the world of politics. It is interesting to notice that, at this point, humanity tends to define the fundamental periods of its evolution by relating to major conflagrations (pre-war, inter-war, post-war). At this point in her analytical approach, the author also refers to the globalization phenomenon (especially with the decline of socialism and the “apparent” success of capitalism), as well as to modernity as a sin qua non condition and as a foundation for contemporary globalization.