The book is included in the Evdoxos bibliography database (book code: 86055597). You can read an excerpt, the contents, and the back cover here.

Is trade a factor for peace? What are the limits of diplomacy? How does climate change affect the stability of the global order? Are conflicts one of the universal sins of power? In an era where the threat of nuclear war is once again emerging, Jonathan Holslag's Global Political History offers us a panorama of international relations that is absolutely essential for those who want to understand the background of contemporary developments.

This book examines a total of 3,000 years of history, from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC to the early 21st century AD. Each chapter covers two to three centuries and focuses on the geographical area for which historical evidence shows was the most significant at that time: due to its population size, its power, or its leadership role in international affairs.

In this way, the focus shifts from east to west, from north to south, following the constantly shifting centers of power. Overall, the book shows great interest in the impact of global politics on the lives of ordinary people.

Beyond the effects of economic changes, it was often the outbreak of wars that had the greatest consequences, and for this reason, the causes and results of conflicts are traced, investigating how some conflicts were won and how others were lost, analyzing how they were perceived by the conflicting parties, while we also follow the desperate attempts of diplomats to stop them.

Even if our goal is to try to extract abstract, timeless patterns from the history of war and peace, it must above all remain a history of human beings, of their hopes and fears, of their capacity for violence, of their pain. This is the only way to understand the difficult choices that define the nature of true leadership.