International Relations: Theories in Action

The definitive applied theory textbook that helps you make sense of global issues through theoretical concepts. Not presupposing any prior knowledge, this introduction equips you with the skills to use theories as adaptable tools to tackle complex global issues. Adopting a critical and questioning approach, you will be equipped in theory as a series of tools to be used, adapted, combined, and applied when grappling with some of the most contested issues in global politics.

Theoretical perspectives are brought alive as a vital tool to understand concrete historical and contemporary examples. This indispensable text starts by examining key theories spanning constructivism and postcolonialism to realism and liberalism with a real-world perspective which prioritises empirical purchase. From here, chapters take a critical, questioning approach to tackle core problems of international politics – from armed conflict and financial markets to the climate crisis, global inequality, gender and race.

This text is the ideal companion for all undergraduate and postgraduate students of global affairs.

Hubert Zimmermann is Professor of International Relations at Philipps University of Marburg, Germany.

Milena Elsinger is Head of the student information department at Philipps University of Marburg, Germany.

Alex Burkhardt teaches at the Bundessprachenamt in Koblenz, Germany and previously taught at Philipps University Marburg, Germany.

Hubert ZIMMERMANN is Professor of International Relations at Philipps University Marburg, Germany.  After graduating from the European University Institute in Florence (Italy), he has held, among others, positions at Düsseldorf University (Germany) and Cornell University (USA). His current research focuses on international security, global financial and monetary policy, the European Union (in particular its foreign economic and security policies), foreign military intervention, and transatlantic relations. Among his publications are Money and Security (Cambridge UP 2002), a book comparing EU and U.S. policies in the integration of China to the WTO (Drachenzähmung, Nomos 2007), a volume on the justification of military intervention (Militärische Missionen, Hamburger Edition 2023) and the European Union (Key Controversies in European Integration, 3d.ed., Palgrave 2020), as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals.

Dr. Milena ELSINGER heads a department in the administration of Philipps University Marburg. She holds an M.A. in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) and an M.litt. in Modern History from St Andrews University. Moreover, she holds a Ph.D. in political science from Philipps-University Marburg. Her main research focus lies in development theory, development cooperation, human rights and liberal institutionalist theory. Her publications include New players – same game? The influence of emerging donors on the policies of three traditional donors: The cases of the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom and Grundlagen der Internationalen Beziehungen (together with Hubert Zimmermann).

Dr. Alex BURKHARDT teaches at the Bundessprachenamt in Koblenz, Germany. He received his PhD in Modern History from the University of St. Andrews in 2017 with a thesis on the rise of the Nazis in the Bavarian town of Hof an der Saale. He has published in Central European History, German History, and The Bulletin of the German Historical Institute London, and his monograph Democrats into Nazis was published in 2019. He taught IR at the Philipps University Marburg between 2019 and 2021.