Bringing together international experts to provide a comprehensive introduction to strategic studies, this is the only overview to critically engage with both enduring and contemporary issues that dominate strategy. Throughout the chapters readers are encouraged to explore key debates and alternative perspectives. A boxed debates feature considers key controversies and presents opposing arguments, helping students to build critical thinking skills and reflect upon a wide range of perspectives.

The new edition has been thoroughly updated to incorporate the latest developments in the field of strategic studies. A new chapter 18 on 'The West and the Rest' explores the limitations and problems strategic studies face when dealing with security challenges in the Global South, stressing the importance of diversity in the field and the important contributions the non-Western world has made to international relations theories and concepts.  Chapter 14 on 'Geography and Strategy' considers important developments in air power, maritime strategy and the rapid expansion of space and cyber warfare.

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1: John Baylis and James J. Wirtz: Introduction: Strategy in the Contemporary World: Strategy after 9/11

Part I: Enduring Issues of Strategy
2: Beatrice Heuser: The History of the Practice of Strategy from Antiquity to Napoleon
3: Michael Sheehan: The Evolution of Modern Warfare
4: Thomas G. Mahnken: Strategic Theory
5: John Garnett and John Baylis: The Causes of War and the Conditions of Peace
6: Jeffrey S. Lantis and Darryl Howlett: Strategic Culture
7: Justin Morris: Law, Politics, and the Use of Force
8: Eliot A. Cohen: Technology and Warfare
9: Roger Z. George: Intelligence and Strategy
10: Colin S. Gray: Strategy and Defence Planning

Part II: Contemporary Problems
11: James D. Kiras: Irregular Warfare: Terrorism and Insurgency
12: C. Dale Walton: The Second Nuclear Age: Nuclear Weapons in the Twenty-first Century
13: John Baylis: The Control of Weapons of Mass Destruction
14: John Ferris: Conventional Power and Contemporary Warfare
15: Daniel Moran: Geography and Strategy
16: Sheena Chestnut Greitens: Humanitarian Intervention and Peace Operations
17: John B. Sheldon: The Rise of Cyberpower
18: Stefanie Ortmann and Nick Whittaker: Geopolitics and Grand Strategy

Part III: The Future of Strategy
19: Amitav Acharya and Jiajie He: Strategic Studies: The West and the Rest
20: Columba Peoples: Strategic Studies and its Critics
21: James J. Wirtz: A New Agenda for Security and Strategy?
22: Colin S. Gray and Jeannie L. Johnson: The Practice of Strategy
23: Lawrence Freedman: Does Strategic Studies Have a Future?

Edited by:

John Baylis, Emeritus Professor of Politics and International Relations, Swansea University.

James Wirtz, Dean of the School of International Graduate Studies, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.

Colin Gray, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies, University of Reading.

• Case studies help to contextualise and deepen understanding of key issues
• Web links and further reading provide students with opportunities to deepen their understanding of main topics and explore further areas of research interest

The following resources are available for lecturers prescribing Strategy in the Contemporary World, sixth edition:

• Customisable PowerPoint slides to ensure clarity of explanation of key concepts and debates.
• Test Bank to reinforce key concepts and test students' understanding.