International Relations: A Very Short Introduction

I thought this book would be a primer on what international relations is... definition of a state, attibutes of sovreignty, mechanics of diplomacy, legal basis for a treaty, etc.

Mr. Wilkinson lambastes realists and deconstructionists while leaving other schools of thought as too unimportant to criticize. (The narrator nicely communicates the sneering tone of the text.)
The book continues with anti-Israel, anti-US, and anti-UK screeds (including thoroughly disproven arab propaganda). Finally at ~30 min the author briefly gives the 4 defining features of a nation state without any elucidation of why or what. How about the effect of the Peace of Westphalia on Leviathan?
The author's intended audience is one person, the new US Sec of State. He wants her (his gender designation) senior staff to tell her that a liberal multilateralist approach is better than neoconservatism (or anything done by GW Bush and Tony Blair). He continues with a laundry list of world problems that could all be solved by cooperating with the UN or regional groups.
At no point does he analyze why multilateralism has numerous failures. Dore Gold's Tower of Babble covers that quite well.

In summary, I was disappointed in the topics and tone of the book. I would not recommend it.