A new edition of a major global history of the twentieth century has been released by four prominent historians, including Institute Professor Jussi Hanhimäki.
The hugely successful book, International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond, is an authoritative yet accessible and seamless account of the history of international relations in the last century, covering events in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.
The book focuses on the history of relations between states and on the broad ideological, economic and cultural forces that have influenced the evolution of international politics over the past one hundred years.
This new third edition is thoroughly updated and includes a new chapter on human rights and its advocacy, new material on the Arab Spring, US decline and the rise of China, and new chapter timelines.
We asked Professor Hanhimäki about the book and its new third edition:
Why is this book so successful?
The main reason is its comprehensive nature. The twenty-plus chapters not only focus on the history of relations between states but also address the forces that have influenced international politics over the past century.
There is clearly a continuing demand – at universities and beyond – for a text of this nature: that is, one that provides both an account of the evolution of interstate relations and simultaneously engages with what are best described as transnational forces.
Secondly, the book succeeds – or so my co-authors and I like to think – in merging the views of four individual authors into a comprehensive whole.
Does this new edition include a new theoretical framework, as well as new chapters?
As historians, my co-authors and I have shied away from proposing a “grand narrative” based upon a specific, even fashionable, theoretical framework. Rather, we like to introduce a number of possible ways of interpreting and viewing the past.
To this effect, each of the chapters includes discussions about controversial issues that historians disagree upon and debate, sometimes furiously. The book’s purpose is not, in other words, to suggest that there is one correct (or superior) way of interpreting the past. Rather, we hope that readers will be provoked into challenging any and all orthodoxies.
More concretely, this new edition is thoroughly updated throughout to take account of the most recent research and global developments, and includes a new chapter on the international history of human rights and its advocacy organisations, including NGOs.
Thus, it addresses concerns that are particularly relevant, it seems, to International Geneva and, of course, to the students of the Graduate Institute, Geneva.
What else is new in this edition?
Since the previous edition published in 2008 – amidst the global financial crisis – a lot has happened (and of course continues to happen).
The third edition thus includes new features and material on the Arab Spring, including specific focus on Libya and Syria (and the Islamic States), increased debate on the question of US decline and the rise of China, and a preliminary discussion on the Ukrainian crisis.
We also decided to add a timeline to each chapter in order to give increased context to those studying the topic for the first time.