The Three-Body Problem and International Relations
Will be published approx. on 30. June 2026
Book
Hardback
312 pages
978-1-68340-571-9 (ISBN)
Description
An introduction to key concepts in international relations and strategy through the interstellar narratives of Cixin Liu's Hugo Award-winning trilogy
Science fiction has long examined social, political, and moral issues through imagined worlds. This book uses Chinese author Cixin Liu's award-winning trilogy as a teaching tool to illustrate complex theories of international relations. Comprising the novels The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End, the trilogy has been recognized for the ways in which, over a galactic scale of time and place, the stories explore how civilizations see each other and engage in strategic conflict.
In this book, leading scholars draw on key moments from the trilogy to help demonstrate complex concepts such as deterrence, diplomacy, negotiation, competition, agency, game theory, colonialism, and feminist theory, as well as multiple levels of military strategy. By linking these stories to global politics and strategy, both on Earth and in space, "The Three-Body Problem" and International Relations offers an engaging, accessible introduction to concepts humans currently grapple with in the realms of global politics, foreign policy, and strategy.
Science fiction has long examined social, political, and moral issues through imagined worlds. This book uses Chinese author Cixin Liu's award-winning trilogy as a teaching tool to illustrate complex theories of international relations. Comprising the novels The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End, the trilogy has been recognized for the ways in which, over a galactic scale of time and place, the stories explore how civilizations see each other and engage in strategic conflict.
In this book, leading scholars draw on key moments from the trilogy to help demonstrate complex concepts such as deterrence, diplomacy, negotiation, competition, agency, game theory, colonialism, and feminist theory, as well as multiple levels of military strategy. By linking these stories to global politics and strategy, both on Earth and in space, "The Three-Body Problem" and International Relations offers an engaging, accessible introduction to concepts humans currently grapple with in the realms of global politics, foreign policy, and strategy.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Florida
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
5 Illustrations, black and white - 4 Tables, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-68340-571-9 (9781683405719)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
James Wesley Hutto is associate professor of strategy and security studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.
Wendy N. Whitman Cobb, professor of strategy and security studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, is coauthor of Space Policy for the Twenty-First Century.
Contributors: Sale Lilly Shanshan Mei Tim Bettis Michael A. Allen Mate Szalai Robert Herold Jean-Francois Belanger Gregory D. Miller Mark D. Jacobsen Melia Pfannenstiel Luke M. Herrington Jaganath Sankaran Roni Kay M. O'Dell Dante K. Earle Ales Karmazin Stephen Benedict Dyson
Wendy N. Whitman Cobb, professor of strategy and security studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, is coauthor of Space Policy for the Twenty-First Century.
Contributors: Sale Lilly Shanshan Mei Tim Bettis Michael A. Allen Mate Szalai Robert Herold Jean-Francois Belanger Gregory D. Miller Mark D. Jacobsen Melia Pfannenstiel Luke M. Herrington Jaganath Sankaran Roni Kay M. O'Dell Dante K. Earle Ales Karmazin Stephen Benedict Dyson
Content
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction
James Wesley Hutto and Wendy N. Whitman Cobb
2. Mainland Chinese Science Fiction: A Play in Four Acts
Sale Lilly
3. Chinese Strategic Perspectives on the Three-Body Problem
Shanshan Mei
Part I: 3BP and the Discipline of IR
4. Mearsheimer's Universe Is a Dark Forest: Offensive Realism as a Motivating Framework for Three-Body
James Wesley Hutto
5. Prisoners, Colonists, or MAD Actors? The Changing Character of Payoff Structures in Remembrance of Earth's Past
Tim Bettis
6. Wallfacers, Domestic Politics, and Extinction: The Limits of Realism in Intergalactic Politics
Michael A. Allen and Robert Herold
7. Is Thucydides Useful in Space? Earth as a Small State in The Three-Body Problem
Mate Szalai
8. Deterrence, but in Space: What Cosmic Deterrence Tells Us About Coercion
Jean-Francois Belanger
Part II: 3BP and the Practice of International Politics
9. Sophons, Wallfacers, Swordholders, and the Cosmic Safety Notice: Strategic Thought in Chinese Science Fiction
Wendy N. Whitman Cobb
10. Strategic Insights from the Three-Body Trilogy: Ten Lessons for Navigating a Complex Universe
Gregory D. Miller
11. When War Is Not a Duel: The Three-Body Game and the Scientific Way of Warfare
Mark D. Jacobsen
12. Militant Clients and Insurgency: Trisolaris and the Earth-Trisolaris Organization
Luke M. Herrington and Melia Pfannenstiel
13. Technology and Strategy in the Three-Body Problem Trilogy
Jaganath Sankaran
14. Negotiation and Diplomacy in the Three-Body Problem Trilogy
Roni Kay M. O'Dell
Part III: Critical Readings
15. Taiwan and the Glutton Sea
Dante K. Earle
16. Feminist Perspectives on Three-Body: Deterrence, Credibility, and the Portrayal of Women
Wendy N. Whitman Cobb
17. Chinese Developmentalism and the Geopolitics of Remembrance of Earth's Past
Ales Karmazin
18. Reading Three-Body as Utopian International Thought
Stephen Benedict Dyson
List of Contributors
Index
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction
James Wesley Hutto and Wendy N. Whitman Cobb
2. Mainland Chinese Science Fiction: A Play in Four Acts
Sale Lilly
3. Chinese Strategic Perspectives on the Three-Body Problem
Shanshan Mei
Part I: 3BP and the Discipline of IR
4. Mearsheimer's Universe Is a Dark Forest: Offensive Realism as a Motivating Framework for Three-Body
James Wesley Hutto
5. Prisoners, Colonists, or MAD Actors? The Changing Character of Payoff Structures in Remembrance of Earth's Past
Tim Bettis
6. Wallfacers, Domestic Politics, and Extinction: The Limits of Realism in Intergalactic Politics
Michael A. Allen and Robert Herold
7. Is Thucydides Useful in Space? Earth as a Small State in The Three-Body Problem
Mate Szalai
8. Deterrence, but in Space: What Cosmic Deterrence Tells Us About Coercion
Jean-Francois Belanger
Part II: 3BP and the Practice of International Politics
9. Sophons, Wallfacers, Swordholders, and the Cosmic Safety Notice: Strategic Thought in Chinese Science Fiction
Wendy N. Whitman Cobb
10. Strategic Insights from the Three-Body Trilogy: Ten Lessons for Navigating a Complex Universe
Gregory D. Miller
11. When War Is Not a Duel: The Three-Body Game and the Scientific Way of Warfare
Mark D. Jacobsen
12. Militant Clients and Insurgency: Trisolaris and the Earth-Trisolaris Organization
Luke M. Herrington and Melia Pfannenstiel
13. Technology and Strategy in the Three-Body Problem Trilogy
Jaganath Sankaran
14. Negotiation and Diplomacy in the Three-Body Problem Trilogy
Roni Kay M. O'Dell
Part III: Critical Readings
15. Taiwan and the Glutton Sea
Dante K. Earle
16. Feminist Perspectives on Three-Body: Deterrence, Credibility, and the Portrayal of Women
Wendy N. Whitman Cobb
17. Chinese Developmentalism and the Geopolitics of Remembrance of Earth's Past
Ales Karmazin
18. Reading Three-Body as Utopian International Thought
Stephen Benedict Dyson
List of Contributors
Index