The Gamer's Guide to International Relations: : Michael A. Allen: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

The Gamer's Guide to International Relations

Textbook

The Gamer's Guide to International Relations

Textbook

Description

Ready Player One meets Foreign Affairs-everything your students need to know about international relations through the lens of video games!
The Gamer's Guide to International Relations uses massively popular video games as a stepping stone to learning about international relations. The study of international relations concerns itself with critical topics like war, civil war, terrorism, human rights, trade, monetary policy, and the environment. Each of these areas of human need, crisis, and response can be difficult to understand. However, gamers already implicitly understand the international world through the games they play. Drawing upon lessons gamers learn through gameplay, this volume guides readers as to how their existing knowledge can help untangle some of the most complicated topics facing humanity. The book progresses by introducing readers to how scholars use the scientific method in international relations. Readers will encounter pivotal international relations theories that explain why war occurs, like realism, liberalism, and constructivism, as well as understanding concepts like the bargaining model of war. The book discusses how we learn about international politics and guides the reader through how we can research world politics and gaming. Finally, the book focuses on key interest areas like international political economy, human rights, the environment, and civil war.

Preface
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction
Why Video Games?
Shared Cultural Experience
Generate Alternative Scenarios
Real-World Scenario Analogs
Speculative Scenarios
Test Interactive Strategies
Indirect Effects
Which Video Games?
Survival Games: Minecraft
Battle Royales: Fortnite
Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas: LoL
Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games: World of Warcraft
Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate Games: Civilization
Plan of the Book
Chapter 2: Realism: The Enemy of My Enemy Is in the Way of My Chicken Dinner
Theories
Realism
Neorealism
A Realist World and a Realist Game
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Liberalism: From Solo Queue to Flex Queue
Liberalism
Conclusions
Chapter 4: Bargaining Models of War: Making an Offer Pericles Cannot Refuse
Building the Model
War as a Bargaining Failure
Information Problems
Commitment Problems
Indivisible Goods
Conclusion
Chapter 5: Domestic Politics: Open Sourcing World Politics
Breaking down the State
Dictators and Principals
Organizational Model of Foreign Policy
Bureaucratic Model of Foreign Policy
Conclusions
Chapter 6: Constructivism: Minecraft is What Players Make of It
The Social Construction of International Politics
Constructivist Approaches to International Relations
Conclusions
Chapter 7: Identity: Representation and Roleplaying in IR
Gender
Women's Involvement in IR
Impact of International Processes on Women
Civilization
Race and Ethnicity
Intersectionality
Conclusions
Chapter 8: Studying International Relations
Observation
Theory
Hypothesis
Research Design and Analysis
Conclusions
Chapter Conclusions
Chapter 9: Specific Tool: Game Theory
Assumptions
Games and Game Theory
Conclusions
Chapter 10: Specific Tool: Quantitative Research
What Matters in LoL
Data
Research Design and Analysis
Conclusions about League
Data in IR
Conclusions
Chapter 11: Civil Wars: Violence Within
The Causes
State Responses
How Civil Wars End
Conclusions
Chapter 12: International Political Economy: Trade
The Logic of Comparative Advantage
The Positive Externalities of Trade
Conclusions
Chapter 13: International Political Economy: Monetary Policy
Currency Systems
International Processes
Conclusions
Chapter 14: Human Rights: Respect in Physical and Digital Spaces
Human Rights in IR
Enforcing Human Rights
Gaming and Human Rights
Conclusions
Chapter 15: Global Health and the Environment
The Environment
Global Health
Conclusions
Chapter 16: Conclusions
Games as Entertainment
Games as Microcosms of International Interactions
Games as Channels
Appendix I: Quick Guide to the Games in the Book
Appendix II: Alternative Games
About the Author
Glossary

Product details

Published	Feb 19 2025
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	198
ISBN	9781538196854
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations	29 BW Photos, 16 Tables
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Should you cooperate with allies, or confront your adversaries? From World of Warcraft and League of Legends to Minecraft and Fortnite, The Gamer's Guide shows how some of the most popular games are great teachers of international relations and represent real-world political dynamics and strategy. It's sure to be an exciting read for political scientists and gamers alike!

Oliver Kaplan, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver
In The Gamer's Guide to International Relations, Michael Allen provides an incredibly comprehensive and highly accessible overview of international relations topics. Seamlessly blending insights from gaming and historical examples, this book will help readers to better understand some of the most important issues and concepts in international relations. It's incredibly informative, but also incredibly fun to read.

Michael Flynn, Kansas State University
One of the ways that international relations instructors can help students learn about concepts and theories is to make them more tangible to students. This can be challenging as many students, especially many in the Global North, have not “experienced” these concepts and theories in practice. Allen's The Gamer's Guide to International Relations combines international relations concepts, theories, and methods with video games, including popular titles with which many students are already familiar or can play for an international relations class (such as WoW, Civ, Minecraft, and others). In doing so, this book offers an approach to teaching international relations that is tangible and engaging to students, which is when they learn best.

Charmaine N. Willis, University at Albany, SUNY
This book offers a valuable contribution to the literature on popular culture and International Relations by showing how video games can help make sense of theories, methods, and ongoing research programs in International Relations. The Gamer's Guide to International Relations thereby charts a course toward further engagement between International Relations and Game Studies.

Andrew A. Szarejko, Wartburg College
Michael Allen's new book takes us from Starcraft to statecraft. Combining an introduction to international relations theory, a survey of video games and international relations, and a guide to conducting research on world politics, Allen offers an indispensable approach to understanding how video games can teach us about the world.

Paul Musgrave, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Michael A. Allen's The Gamer's Guide to International Relations is a terrific option for the IR classroom. The book brings to light the important, and often complex theories, models, and controversies of the field in a way that is certain to resonate with college students. Students already play the games that Allen examines, and this book will open their eyes to a much richer tapestry for which to play and learn.

Joseph W. Roberts, Roger Williams University